Teamwork is Everything
by ElroyJetson1060
Summary: For all Kakashi preaches about teamwork, he never did anything to instill that in squad 7. What if he did? What if Kakashi showed them how to cultivate the bonds of precious people?
1. Chapter 1

_**Teamwork is Everything's**_

In the same training ground that years ago he had received his own test to become a genin, Hatake Kakashi passed his own team of genin, and every fiber of his being told him that it was a terrible idea to have them pass, and maybe he should have simply failed them. To save them from the tragedy that was to befall them. They were like his old team, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto were stark reflections of Rin, himself, and Obito.

They would never work as a team under normal circumstances, he was sure of that, however he had been assured by the Sandiame that he would be allowed to teach them anything within the real of teamwork however he wished, as a compromise we was not allowed to teach them any high level jutsu as the council was afraid of a host with few village ties, and a rage filled Uchiha hellbent on revenge who could care less about forging bonds to others could not be trusted with power.

Had their teacher been anyone but himself, Kakashi would have been in agreeance with the majority belief, however he knew the cure to the ailments that the two young men suffered from, and he would force them to overcome their pain.

"Sasuke." He said in an authoritative tone, the boy needed to learn to listen to his superiors, they all did in fact. It was something that he had seen in the files when he looked passed all the bias that was thrown into them. It was just one more hurdle.

The young Uchiha looked pointedly at him, almost as if he felt Kakashi under his gaze, perhaps he had bruised the boy's ego more then he had thought, that was good, it'd help in the long run. He needed to shed that ego more than anything, and Kakashi knew that. Breaking down as soon as possible was a priority.

"Untie Naruto and follow me, you as well Sakura." With a grumble Sasuke did as he was told and cut Naruto from his bonds. The loud orange brat dropped to the ground with a yelp and a hasty insult to Sasuke, and assurance that he did not need to be saved from his predicament, though they all knew that to be nothing more than a lie.

Sakura for her part was staring between Kakashi and Sasuke with looks of worry, worry that they were still somehow being tested by the silver haired man, and worry that Sasuke was not alright. She followed all the same.

Kakashi led the trio to his own personal spot of mourning, the memorial stone, the stone that held the last remnants of who he was. He put his hand on it, closing his lone eye as he did so.

 _'Hello Obito, Rin,... Minato-sensei. I passed a Genin team, and I honestly can't say I'm happy. They remind me of us. I'm afraid that I won't be able to handle it, and things will turn out like we did. Minato-sensei, one of them is your son and I know you want him to grow up loved and cared, but he can't. I don't want him to survive by the barest of lessons and abilities... I want him to live. He can't be a child anymore, none of them can.'_

Kakashi opened his eye and rounded to face his students. He knew they were not ready for what he had planed for them; he didn't care. He was younger than they when he attained his rank, covered in more blood than they could imagine. They would receive no mercy if they were to reach the level of those like himself and Itachi.

"Do not speak unless spoken to." He let loose a tiny wave of concentrated killing intent laced within his words; there would be no pulled punches. "My name is Hatake Kakashi, and I was born the last son of the once great Hatake clan. My father was a famed warrior, known as Hatake Sakumo the White Fang of Konoha. At the age of four I entered the academy with his legacy upon my shoulders. Shortly after I joined I was at the top of my class and poised to graduate at the age of five... then tragedy struck."

He hated to recall the events that shaped every fabric of his being, yet he had to... these children would only follow in the footsteps of their predecessors, and look where they ended up; dead save for one who was broken beyond any means of repair.

Taking a deep breath to collect himself he began again. "My father failed a key mission, a black ops saboteur mission in Iwa, and with tensions mounting it looked as though it was going to cause a war. I could not believe what I was being told, because my father was a legend, there was absolutely no way that he could have failed-" he swallowed thickly "but he did. My father failed his mission, because he saved his teammates. They were captured and going to be killed, and instead of simply continuing on and letting his teammates die he returned for them."

His voice lost its easy going flow, and white sparks of rage bubbled up and he had to choke them down, but the hiss of his words left belied the truth. "They scorned him for his efforts, and so did I. Eventually he could no longer take it, and on the eve of my ascension to the rank of genin my father preformed seppuku. To restore my honor and remove his stain he gave his life... and I hated him for it."

He felt close to hyperventilating, the influx of emotion was too great. He had not visited these bygone memories, these corrupting mixing pots of weakness. There was nothing here for him but pain, and heartache, horrid plains of loss awash in oceans of agony. All the flowers that should have bloomed wilted and died bar his, the one with the scarecrow's eyes.

Swallowing the misery that welled in his chest he soldiered on. "With his death my hate cemented itself. He left me alone to fend for myself in this world of liars, thieves, and killers. I was a boy among monsters, labeled a prodigy... and in far too deep."He wasn't paying attention to his students as he spoke. He did not care what they had to say about his past, he just hoped they understood what he was doing, barring his soul to these children that he had only just met. He was showing them trust, and now he hoped they'd do the same.

Sakura's face was covered in hot wet tears, she was not even trying to contain her sadness. Her sensei was an orphan like the two boys before her, and to make the situation worse she remembered what she had said to Sasuke about Naruto the other day. Naruto and Sasuke were alike, both of them growing up having to rely on themselves, but they both had their own individual issues that the other would not understand, like how Sasuke had had a family for a short time in his life, and Naruto never had.

None of that mattered in the slightest however, as much as the fact that they were both without family, and she had said it must have been good for him to be without anyone to scold him. She was insensitive to him, just like everyone else around her. Sure he was annoying, her treatment of him went above and beyond punishing him for such, and that was hardly fair on her part. She wanted to blame it on him somehow, but she knew it wasn't true. She would try to be at least a little nicer to the blond.

The blond in question was crying just as she was, he was just doing a better job of hiding the fact. The thought that his sensei was like him left goosebumps on his arms. Loneliness was something that he struggled with for his entire life, it was an aspect of the world that most people never got to see first had. All the people Naruto ever met had a circle, a circle of close friends that they could fall back on, and he lacked that. Yes, he did have the Old Man and Teuchi and Ayame, but they were not real friends, they were older than him, they did not grow as he did; he had no one.

It hurt to think that, and he would never admit it, for if he did it would be as if he were admitting defeat, and he was not where near such. He wanted to reach his goals in life, he doubted himself, however. He knew he was not as good as the others that graduated alongside him, it was saying so that was his problem. Pride, it was the only idol in his pitiful existence that was his own and he cherished it because it was all he had, and now he was crippled by it.

This jonin before him, this Hatake Kakashi was someone that he could rely on, if only this demonstration was all the evidence. To be able to lay your own heart on the table, to share as he did spoke to Naruto's spirit. This man would save him from his loneliness.

For Sasuke Kakashi's words were like arrows tearing through his heart. He knew the agony and sadness, and even if it was only the man's father it was his only family killed by his only family. His sensei knew the feeling of hating the person that had been your idol, the one that you looked up to, expected to be there for you forever. It was a pain unlike any other, a cold heart that froze his vessels and boiled his blood, an antithesis within itself. Hate really just another form of love, a cruel disposition, he wanted to be an optimist at times, the cold water of life turned him from that path. Humans were fragile things that were not meant to last forever, the mind didn't care.

The inability for one to understand a rule of the world that was so logical strengthened agony of their losses. If his mother had survived would his time in this world have been any better, is there a way to achieve better? Were we truly in control of ourselves, or simply put on a path? Was fate set in stone? He needed to answer those question, but first he needed to avenge his family.

"I was put on a genin team much like yours." For a spit second their faces were replaced with the faces of his old team. He squeezed his eye shut willing the phantoms away.

"There was another boy by the name of Uchiha Obito. He was the class clown, always late, dead last, and he was in my eyes unfit to be a shinobi. He proclaimed that one day he would be Hokage to anyone who would listen. He was an outcast in his clan because had yet to activate the sharingan even though he was a shinobi. He had a crush on my other teammate, Rin."

Kakashi smiled as he saw the specter of Obito behind Naruto smiling. They did say the souls of the elders follow the young. His gaze turned toward Sakura. "Rin was a little like you Sakura, she had a slight crush on me, but she was often the only one to put up with Obito's antics, and I would often ask her why; she'd tell me 'Kakashi-kun he's just a lonely boy, with too few people to care for him. I care for him so that he won't fall into that despair,' I never understood it at first...", Kakashi paused.

Awash with the guilt that tugged at his spirit, he contemplated for just a single moment once again whether the sacrifice of his- he was hesitant to say this- friend was worth the burden that followed.

"When I did understand it was far too late. Rin was my rock after what happened, and she saved me from drowning in my own sorrow, but I came to appreciate her only when she was gone. I was a genius prodigy would could pick up ninjutsu like a sponge, but as a person I was an idiot.", his eyes landed on the Uchiha as he continued.

"Kinda like you Sasuke. People bent themselves over backward trying to help me after the death my father, and I rebuffed all efforts, to me teammates and comrades were nothing other than liabilities who would simply hold me back, or worse they would get killed because I would never go back for them. In essence I was better off on my own."

His own shadow hovered over the avenger, filling him with dread. He could not afford the boy to follow in his footsteps, nothing was more important than ensuring this child grew up strong and loyal to the village, no one wanted to see the final death throes of the once mighty Uchiha Clan.

His story would aid him later in his dissection of the boy and his teammates which was a necessity, they needed to become stronger, not just in body, or some type of ninjutsu, they had to become strong in mind, and spirit, the single way that he knew how to do so was to break the spirit, and rebuild.

It was a painful process and any shinobi that lacked the utmost conviction in themselves and what they believed in would not survive it. It was not a trivial exercise, and few would see fit to use it on a team of genin, however beneath their exteriors he could see three gems that only needed a bit of polishing, and the first step in that polishing was to finish his tale.

"Minato-sensei tried to instill teamwork into me, my strength which was a pride of mine was my undoing. I was stronger than my teammates, and thus I assailed the ranks faster than they had. By the time I was your age I was a jonin and they were chuunin."

The children all went wide eyed at his statement, knowing he had no reason to lie to them made it truth, but accepting it as such was more than a slight bit difficult. Sasuke pondered how someone could gain such power so quickly, Sakura was over come with fear, as her sensei was yet to reach his prime, and thus would grow more powerful for a few years, if he had decided to take them seriously during their test they would have become nothing more than stains upon the ground.

Naruto was elated with the news that someone his age could attain such skill, meaning he was sure that he could become a super strong ninja fast than he ever thought possible. He needed to know how to do it, but his sensei was a jonin like that so he was sure the man would make him strong.

Kakashi ignored them and continued. "Shortly after my promotion my team and I were sent on a mission to destroy the Kannabi bridge, the bridge covered a key supply route for Iwa to provide rations and such for their shinobi. I was given charge of my team, my sensei broke off to distract the enemy. During the course of the mission Rin was captured by Iwa shinobi. My first thought was to leave her."

The words sounded so cold coming from his own mouth. Was it like that when he first said it all those years ago. He had always been a cold child after what happened. Perhaps if he were a little warmer he could have saved them, regrets though are not the type of thought that one should dwell on.

"Obito would not allow that. He pursued the enemy to save her, eventually I too followed and we were able to rescue our wayward teammate, and Obito unlocked his sharingan. All seemed to come out well, then tragedy struck once more. An explosion and a cave in. Rin was safe, but I was in danger of being crushed. Obito... Obito saved me, and because of that he died in my stead.

Another pause, a sense of dread, of anger, of disgust, the feral feeling of that day, the cold surreal view... death was not a pretty thing, but it was an art, a fascination for us. Something we hated and at times loved. Sickness rushed forward, the rationalization of killing an enemy and the difference that came with murdering a friend; the problems of the shinobi life.

"The bolder that did the deed only crushed the right side of his body, and he retained the ability to speak for quite a while. He told Rin and I to take his only good sharingan and replace the eye I loss earlier on the mission."

He lifted his headband to show the sharingan eye spinning in the other socket, dealing with the eye was at odds with how it was before. It drained him before, making him strong yet weakening him at the same time, as he trained more though he became use to it, it was a part of him.

"Before we did it though he told me... that those who break the rules are trash, but those who leave teammates behind are worse than trash. I took that to heart."

A breath... he took it to heart and failed, he couldn't save the other. His heart was so heavy with failure, with the inability to keep a promise. Why did he suffer so.

"But I was too weak to live up to my word. Rin was captured by a group of Kiri-nin, and I saved her, however she was made into a jinchuriki with a faulty seal."

They probably didn't know what a jinchuriki was. "A jinchuriki is a human who has one of the tailed beasts sealed within themselves, Naruto is the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi."

Naruto paled, while Sasuke and Sakura gaped, they had not know about Naruto's tenant, and Naruto would have preferred they had not found out, however that would have been detrimental to the development of teamwork. Secrets were not something to be had, even of the Hokage declared it to be an S-rank secret if one of them knew they all had to know.

There was no stoppage in his tale, there was no time for him to let that tidbit of information sink into their tiny skulls. "If she got into the village the seal would have failed and the Sanbi would have been released to run rampant. Instead of allowing that to happen she jumped in front of one of my attacks killing herself."

One more down and the sadness was dampening, still arid and wretched, but slowly dying, more an ember less a flame. "Finally my sensei was the Yondaime Hokage, and therefore he too is dead. I am the last of my team," there was a tear running down his face hot and heavy of a thousand regrets.

"It is a despair unlike any other to be like me. The men and woman that I worked so closely with, and unknowingly opened up my heart to are dead, and I am incomplete. I am broken, and I don't want you to be, because no matter how much you hate each other now, or how much you think you can keep such bonds from forming they will, and when one of you leaves for the other world the others will never be the same."

One more breath, to steady the haze and banish the feeling of angst. "When you arrive home today you will find your training schedule. Be prepared. I will not treat you kindly. You are dismissed."

He vanished in a whirl of leaves leaving the genin to their own thoughts. Contemplations of the heavy variety, emotions that could destroy them, fear of creating those ties or the methods that he would use to do so. The Haruno was his only worry, but if her obsession was as strong as he hoped -and feared- then his worry was misplaced.

 _ **TiE**_

 **Naruto**

Ramen was his go to thing to think, not that he liked doing that kind of thing, but right now he needed to. His new sensei was strange, at least... that was what he thought at first glance, the man did a good job of making himself seem harmless, the sort of shinobi with no edge, the kind that seemed incapable of being harmful... the kind you have to keep an eye on.

Naruto should have realized this, the man was a jonin for a reason, and for some reason the boy could not get it through his head, it was hopeless. It was utterly hopeless, until Kakashi told his story.

He slurped slowly on his noodles making Teuchi and Ayame look at him with worrying eyes, he could feel their gazes. He ignored them, which was unlike himself, and he knew it. He didn't care. He needed to think.

The deaths of the man's teammates was harsh, delivering a powerful emotional blow that was dwarfed only by the feeling of guilt and self loathing he packed into every moment of it. Thinking back he had laid bare to them all of his failings, and now he wanted them to compared themselves to the shadows of his demons.

Naruto felt he was in fact a lot like Obito in demeanor, but he had more of a Kakashi problem; ego. His problem was his ego. It was not a thought that came to mind quickly, though after a sixth bowl of miso it popped out.

He knew he was the dead last of his class, and he understood that he was not improving, but he was so used to failure that when he succeeded little he took it as a lot. Small steps for others turned to giant leaps for him, and he began to want to show off convinced every time he had assailed to the levels of those around him. He never did. If he ever got a win off through sheer luck he would celebrate like no other.

This wasn't so bad but his learning of the **Shadow Clone Jutsu,** a forbidden technique when to his head, hell he was a prankster, and he didn't even use them to set traps, and what the hell happened to his stealth? He could hide from chuunin and some jonin.

It took a single second for it to click, and he dropped face first into his ramen as he did so, some would say hoping to drown himself in the broth.

When he lifted his head up he paid his bill and left the stand in a huff still mulling over his thoughts. He knew why he did not use any of his normal skills -pranks were a friendly fire non-issue type of trap- to fight Kakashi... it was Sasuke and Sakura-chan. He wanted to prove himself to Sakura by beating Sasuke so bad that instead of actually trying to do it he fantasized about doing it to the point that he could not think about anything else.

He'd never heard of anything like it before, however whenever he was around Sakura-chan he had to prove himself to her by challenging Sasuke because he was the only person the girl liked.

He still wanted to be close to Sakura-chan, but he had to stop challenging the Uchiha, because getting beat into the ground did not make for good confidence, especially when it happens many times in a row. He would find another way to get Sakura's attention.

Naruto was relived when the visage of his apartment came into view. He ran to the door unlocked it and went to take a shower. The steamy water opened his pores and relaxed the muscles he did not even know were aching.

Sighing in pleasure he turned the tap off and dried himself. He made his way into his bedroom and changed into his night clothes. He glanced at his nightstand and cocked a brow at the note left there. Gingerly he picked it up.

 _ **Hello my cute genin. This note is standard for all of you. You are now shinobi, usually here in Konoha I would try to build you into your own shinobi, and I will be doing that, however I will be adding in a side of murderous psychopath for measure. I know you all hate the idea of killing, however think of it like this. If that bastard is dead he cant hurt anyone you love. Now for the training schedule.**_

 _ **Light Days: Monday, Friday**_

 _ **Heavy Days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday**_

 _ **Rest Days: Saturday, Sunday**_

 _ **Light Schedule**_

 _ **3am-4am: Wake up, bathe, eat, get dressed (a standard uniform has been provided for each of you. Wear. It.)**_

 _ **5zm-6am: Stretches and a light morning jog (3.5 kilometers)**_

 _ **7am-10am: Light weight training**_

 _ **11am-12pm light running**_

 _ **12pm-1pm lunch (a prepared lunch provided by me. Nothing else. Eat it all.)**_

 _ **1pm-5pm: Missions**_

 _ **5pm-8pm: Chakra theory**_

 _ **8pm-9pm: Team Dinner**_

 _ **9mp-10pm: Nightly Rituals and Bed. (Failure to be asleep at ten will be punished)**_

 _ **Heavy Schedule**_

 _ **3am-4am: Morning Rituals  
**_

 _ **4am-5am: Deep stretches**_

 _ **5am-9am: Intense Cardio**_

 _ **9am-12pm: Heavy weight training**_

 _ **12pm-1pm: Lunch**_

 _ **1pm-5pm: Missions**_

 _ **5pm-8pm: Taijutsu and Bukijutsu**_

 _ **8pm-9pm: Team Dinner**_

 _ **9pm-10pm: Nightly Rituals and Bed**_

 **TiE**

 **Day One: Monday, Time: 5pm.**

"What is chakra?" Kakashi asked his students. They were sitting in an unused academy classroom, and Kakashi had written the word 'Chakra' on the board. Naruto did not know the answer to the question, and Sasuke would not raise his hand on principle. Sakura raised her hand instead.

Kakashi pointed to her. "Chakra is a mixture of physical and mental energies with a person."

He smiled at the girl. She was smart for a genin but nowhere near the level he needed her when she was spying for the village. "Right but wrong. Mental energy is not one of the energies, its spiritual energy."

Sakura huffed. "Isn't mental energy a part of spiritual energy?"

Kakashi nodded. "It is, however knowing half doesn't count, in the life of a shinobi that's the difference between them leaving the battlefield, and you staying."

That shut the girl up. "Now then chakra at its base is a mixture of mental and physical energies, which is why I've set these lessons in a classroom, because they are in fact lessons that will hopefully make you somewhat more knowledgeable."

Naruto groaned, Sakura was gushing inwardly, and Sasuke brooded. Kakashi sighed, he hadn't expected much, but this was getting to be a bit much.

"In order to increase your chakra reserves you need to expend them, and improve both physically and mentally. Those are the only ways. Any of you who do not take my lessons here seriously will be sent back to the academy."

Not a sound hung in the air. "Good. Chakra is neutral when it exits the body, however everyone's chakra has a nature, an element that it will always want to convert to. Today we will be exploring your chakra nature."

He passed each of them a piece of paper. After a little instruction they each channeled chakra into the paper. He was surprised to find that Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were Wind, Lighting, and Earth natured respectively, What really got to him however was the fact they all had intense affinities. Intense affinities were those that were more in tune with the element naturally. This meant they would be able to get the training down quite easily.

Kakashi smiled. Perhaps it would be easier than he had thought.

 **TiE**

 **Thursday: Day Four, 7:30**

Sasuke's arm groaned in pain as the craps kicked in again. When Kakashi forced them into the weight training Sasuke saw it as beneath himself. The wrongness of that statement made itself known the first day of this intense exercise.

They trained different muscle groups each day. The first day they would do the lower body, next would come the mid section and lower abdomen, and finally the upper body would end it. Kakashi said it was to keep their growth even; Sasuke suspected it was really because he wanted the torture to last, and if he trained their entire bodies they wouldn't last long.

Naruto was the sole reason they had not all died. The idiot never gave up, and though he'd begun to back off from challenging his everyday, he was a mountain of encouragement. He radiated energy and it revived them when it got the hardest.

He was beginning to understand somewhat the reverence that Kakashi had for teammates, but he wasn't convinced.

 __ **Saturday: Day Six Morning**

Kakashi knocked on Naruto's door at the break of dawn, and Naruto was pissed, but he didn't say anything. Kakashi was a vindictive bastard and yelling at him would guarantee some sort of bullshit in the immediate future..

"Good morning sensei how can I help you?"

Being polite was a new one for Naruto and he often wondered how he would keep it up, the boy was proving to be a diligent one and he was sure he would ingrain the practice within himself. Kakashi's eye curled into its famous smile.

"I wanted to speak with you Naruto." Naruto opened the door and allowed Kakashi inside.

The jonin was a fair bit impressed by the sight. The last time that he came into the jinchuriki's dwelling the spoiled milk that was left on the table gave him a bad impression of the child, but that was hardly unexpected when such a lonely child was forced to fend for himself.

Kakashi took a seat on the boy's old couch. He grimaced slightly at the harshness of the piece of furniture, with the ferocity that the frame of the great piece of junk attacked his lower body he was confused as to how Naruto managed with the ragged thing.

"I noticed three little academy students following you around, and calling you boss." Naruto knew in an instant who Kakashi was referring to. Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon. The three followed him whenever they had the chance, and it annoyed him to no end. He tried to tell them off, but he did not have the heart to do so. They were just children that wanted to grow stronger, kinda like him.

"Sensei I'll tell them to leave me alone." Naruto said evenly. He did not want any problems right now. The scarecrow was a slave driver, and he did not want to know what the man had in store for him if he was ever displeased with his efforts.

Kakashi held up his hand. "No, Naruto don't do that. I want them around." Naruto raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing him.

"What do you want a bunch of brats around us for?"

Kakashi chuckled at the blond's attempt to steer him away from the "brats" in question. "Naruto I want the three of you to become chuunin, and jonin as soon as possible. I was a prodigy, and even though all of you might not be the same I know you have what it takes," He was playing on the boy's ego a quite a bit, and he knew it was unfair, results though would not lie; the ends justified the means, even if the means were honor-less.

"One of the main duties of chuunin is to lead teams of genin and other chuunin. Chuunin are squad leaders. If you each take one of the kids and show them what I show you, and perhaps lead them on mock missions then it might go down in your files are reason to promote you all."

A lie and a smidgen of truth. It was true that such teaching ability did go on record it was not toward a combat promotion. Those who showed great skill in teaching were often assigned to the academy, though it was hardly permanent few left the post after being assigned to it; the time without any combat making their skills dull. It was a lifestyle that he was sure his students would avoid.

Naruto wanted to yell, scream, shout at the top of his lungs that he did not want to help those little cretins. His displeasure died at the mention of promotion. Making chuunin was the next goal in becoming Hokage, and if teaching those wannabe pranksters would help him out with it he would gladly do it.

"Fine."

 **Friday: Day Twelve**

Konohamaru thought not too long ago that becoming strong, and attaining the rank of Hokage would be an easy venture for someone like himself. He was the grandson of the man that now wore the title, thus giving him access to more training from qualified individuals. That was an advantage that he loved at first.

His tutors that were prepared for him often offered him secrets if he were willing to pay more. He never understood why they would ask him though, when it was his Grandfather that paid their fees. He could give them more money if he signed their papers, but he had been warned not to do so.

Now he knew why the Old Man gave him that advice. Those people said there was a way to become more powerful quickly, without all the blood sweat and tears, or the broken bones, and endless nights resting after pushing your body to the limit. Training alongside Naruto destroyed the notion that such secrets existed.

When Naruto invited his little group to train with them Konohamaru was elated, filled with joy; he was going to get to work with his Boss! Training was not all fun and games. Naruto and his teammates chose one of them to train with each, Naruto chose to train Konohamaru, Sasuke chose to train Moegi, and Sakura got saddled with Udon.

Konohamaru felt kind of sad when he realized he would not get to spend the day with his friends, Naruto only smiled and told the kid that he'd get to see them when the day was done. Thinking it was going to be easy the grandson of the Sandiame grinned right back.

Konohamaru laid on the ground his arms ablaze, coursing with a heady ache. IT was only his first day with his mentor, yet it seemed more than ten lifetimes. The regimen he tried to follow was hell plain and simple.

Groaning softly the seven year old huffed his face red with concentration. He attempted to stand on shaky legs, toppling to the ground when he reached the zenith of his stance. He rose once more, choosing this time to rest on his knees.

Naruto was watching him from his perch in the trees. "Boss!" he called out to his idol. "Can I take a break!?"

The blond looked at him and shook his head. "Please! Everything aches, and I'm tired!" Konohamaru tried again.

Naruto snorted at the display before him. The last two weeks of training with Kakashi and his team was brutal, in every piece it was brutal, designed to break you and leave nothing. Nothing save for an empty clean slate, something to build upon.

The time Naruto taught Konohamaru came to mind, and Naruto wondered how to motivate the kid. He obviously did not find the training fun, a preposterous idea- the very thought that a person did not mind training fun was appalling- if he ever heard one.

"Do you really want a break?" Naruto asked with a plan formed.

Konohamaru nodded, and Naruto smiled. "Then go home and don't come back." The cheerful tone made it seem as if he were only talking about something as insignificant as the weather.

A stunned silence settled over Konohamaru, his brain trying and failing to process Naruto's words. There was no way that the person he called boss would dismiss him so easily.

"B-boss?"

"Don't call me that. I'm not your boss. You asked to take a break, and I'm giving you one. The only thing is that I don't do breaks where you get to try again tomorrow. You wanna slack find someone else, cause you don't deserve my help."

A dull throb, in the left side of his chest. His heart he thought absently. It hurt. It hurt so much. What was this pang of liquid ice chilling him with a feeling, and emotion that he knew nothing of. No one had ever dismissed him like this.

"You're a little kid wanting to play ninja. I'm a shinobi now Konohamaru, and I don't have time to waste. You're not serious, so just leave."

Anger... a familiar burn, an intensity that he desperately want to feel; he couldn't bring that searing heat to the forefront. Naruto had not said his peace with any malice or for want to hurt his feelings. He was just speaking the truth... the sad truth.

This was likely what his grandfather wanted to tell him. The old man lacked the ability to do such these days, he much preferred to bring joy rather than cause anyone sadness even if it were much needed.

He'd never taken his training seriously, and look where that got him. He was near the bottom of his academy class, and all he did was play pranks. Laziness filled him to the brim, he knew, consuming him. He allowed to fester, and now he had training he could be taking advantage of but all he chose to do was squander it.

He clenched his eyes shut, and bowed his head. "I'm sorry Boss! I don't need a break, I can finish!"

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked to thin air. He stared for a moment, then he frantically moved his head this way and that looking for the child. He was relieved when he saw the boy running once more. There was a resolve there, weak and budding. It would have to be tested and tempered, but everything has to start somewhere.

 **Monday: Day Twenty-two 5pm**

 **"Fire Release: Grand Fireball"** Sasuke took in a huge breath and released it ushering a huge corona of light and heat. Kakashi having no time to dodge it used a quick substitution to interchange himself with a log. Perching in a nearby tree the silver haired jonin waited for the next attack.

He was not forced to wait long as Naruto launched forward. Wind chakra coating his legs boosting his leap. With speed and precision that was lost on the boy mere weeks ago he slammed into Kakashi with a powerful kick.

The blow was blocked by the jonin's forearm. Kakashi grappled the offending appendage and made to throw the blond. With another burst of wind chakra Naruto launched backward in a flip while simultaneously releasing a thick wave of the energy creating a large band of air that rushed his sensei, obscuring the battlefield in a cloud of dust and debris.

Kakashi wasn't hurt by in the exchange, Naruto knew this, and fighting the man head on again was a fool's errand. Using the dust to his advantage he dashed back into the foliage.

When the cloud settled Kakashi was standing unharmed. _'Naruto-kun is getting much better.'_

Suddenly Kakashi jumped as the ground gave way beneath his feet, exploding with a ferocious roar. It was a trap that Naruto most likely set. The teamwork exercises they were doing had begun to lessen over the weeks and each of his precious students began to work on their own style of fighting.

Naruto with his background in pranks was a trap user. With his shadow clones he was able to turn any area into a minefield for his opponent.

As Kakashi sailed through the air he quickly threw a kunai with a rope attached to it into a tree and used it to swing out of the path of the blasts of water that were the work of Sakura. Her reserves were increasing at a staggering rate, and now she could use ninjutsu just like Sasuke, though she was lacking in variety with no one to teach her beyond the little he was allowed.

They were all growing more powerful with each passing day, and right now they could give any chuunin or even an unsuspecting jonin a run for their money. They could take pride in their new found strength, but it wasn't enough to defeat him. If he were slacking he might have had trouble, but slacking was not something he believed in when it came to shinobi. Just as they grew so too did he.

 **Interlude: The Academy**

Konohamaru was happy. His training with his Boss was paying off. Naruto wasn't the smartest guy in the world, but he knew how to train, and keep someone motivated. He had a way with words.

Moegi and Udon were doing much better, in fact they all placed in the top three most of the time now, with Udon leading them as Moegi and Konohamaru were not all that interested in books. Udon's love of books and Sakura's style of explanation helped them all greatly as the girl would often go over chakra theory with Udon, giving him notes and telling him tidbits here and there. Udon would then give them his own lectures when the academy was out. They couldn't train with team seven all the time, so they showed each other what they learned from Naruto's squad.

"Konohamaru. I see you and your friends are improving." Iruka-sensei said to the boy one day.

Konohamaru laughed. "Yup, and one day I'm gonna be Hokage."

Iruka rubbed the little leaf's head. "I know you will, but I have a question for you."

"Shoot."

"I have a student that wishes to get some tutoring. If you and your friends do it they're willing to pay you five hundred ryo per session."

Konohamaru mulled it over for a moment. He wasn't exactly hurting for cash, but it would be nice to have his own instead of having to ask for some when he wanted to get things. "Sure."


	2. Chapter 2

**TiE 2**

 **Konohamaru**

Training had become his life. Two months ago he was a barely passing academy student, but now he could use all three academy jutsu with no problem, and it was all thanks to Sakura. The girl was a bastion of knowledge when it came to chakra, and thus understood how to raise one's reserves, as well as control this denser mass of chakra.

The training sessions were different now. In that fist month the members of team seven were busy with their training sessions, taking one of their rest days per week to tutor the young students. Each sempai took one kohai, and each sempai focused on different tactics.

Sasuke was a budding kenjutsu user, had some talent with ninjutsu, but his talent, as they had all come to learn lay in genjutsu. When the boy activated his sharingan in a particularly brutal sparring session with Naruto -there was no holding back in a spar with team seven, one misstep and they were dead, they trusted each other to the maximum though, betting their lives in these simulated conflicts- he trained even harder, and before long it ascended to the three tomoe form. Through experimentation he learned to lay powerful illusions with nary a gaze, only seasoned chuunin, and jonin had any chance of resisting.

Sakura was a medic having mastered the use of the mystic palm and chakra scalpel at an incredible rate, however her power lay in taijutsu and bukijutsu. Because of her near perfect chakra control, and the exercises that she used to rapidly build upon her reserves she was able to use her chakra to enhance her muscles. With the knowledge of human anatomy that she gained as an aspect of her work within the Konoha hospital she could direct her chakra anywhere she wanted to enhance a specific part of the body. Increased control of he body allowed for impeccable accuracy with weapons, and her ability to section off parts of her conscious made weapon tactics child's play for her.

Her larger stores meant she was also able to use ninjutsu. The earth nature manipulation was easy, to say the least. All the girl had to do was firstly turn a leaf into dirt by converting it into earth nature chakra, secondly she had to turn a rock to sand, and lastly she learned to move through the earth as though it were water.

As for genjutsu, she could dispel it with ease, there was no luck for her with using it on the other hand. Her mind was too analytical for something as abstract as genjutsu.

Naruto, Konohamaru's sempai was a slight bit different in his approach to ninjahood. Ninjutsu was Naruto's bread and butter. He was the first of the trio to get a grasp on his affinity, taking only five days. With the secret of shadow clones given to him by Kakashi he was able to learn the chakra control exercises that Sakura learned, thus he could detect and dispel genjutsu with relative ease.

Naruto's other skill was traps. With the leaps and bounds he made with his chakra control he learned to create chakra strings, these helped him set traps from far away, and along with his clones allowed him to make a battlefield a deathtrap at a moment's notice.

Naruto's entire style relied on never actually being in the battle, and with this in mind he tended to leave a shadow or wind clone in his place at all times. To make it easier for him to be prepared for any situation at a moment's notice he began to look into storage scrolls at the behest of Kakashi.

While never an avid reader, with Kakashi's classroom style teaching at times they were required to read several texts worth of material. Sakura taught Naruto and Sasuke how to pay attention in that kind of environment after they were chased by their sensei's ninken for a day. Receiving several bites apiece as a result. Sakura was more upset than Naruto had even seen her, and he and Sasuke earned the beating of a lifetime.

Fuinjutsu put those lessons to the test, though Naruto had it far easier than others with the use of his patented shadow clones. He could make his own storage seals, and modified explosive tags, and he was progressing farther and farther everyday.

What the lessons of fuinjutsu and learning about his affinity taught Naruto, and the main lesson that he tried to extend to Konohamaru when he was tutoring the boy was patience. Yes, Naruto had the shadow clones, and it seemed to be something of a cheat, and yes, Sasuke had the sharingan which gave him great ocular genjutsu capability, and yes, Sakura had near perfect memory and chakra control, however they still struggled with certain things.

Naruto struggled for the first month to get the basic tree walking and water walking chakra control exercises down pat, Sakura couldn't cast any ninjutsu, and could barely use the academy three in succession without almost falling to chakra exhaustion, but Sasuke, his taijutsu which used to be the best of the three of them was now sadly inept; sure he could hit both Naruto and Sakura, but they could take beatings that he would be hard pressed to walk away from, and they hit like earth release techniques.

It was humbling for Naruto to admit their faults so readily. He and his team were strong for genin, and Kakashi told them after their first C-rank mission -the same mission where they took their first lives- that they were more on the level of a group of mid-level chuunin than genin. It made them proud, even when he told them that there were others of their age that where on par with him.

It was these lessons gifted to him by Naruto that guided Konohamaru to a meteoric rise in the academy, with Moegi, Udon, and his own kohai right alongside him, in fact they were being given the chance to take the graduation exam. They would pass of course, because they were the future of Konoha!

 **Iruka-sensei**

Iruka stood in the empty classroom, looking down at the files of four children. Four children who were all less than ten years of age, who in less than an hour would be taking the genin exam. He was against this... against letting these children who had no place on a battlefield take the exam.

True child soldiers were no longer a necessity, they had peace on the continent at the moment, and though it was a thin peace, it allowed the villages to afford their youngest a childhood. These kids had no place in the cogs of the shinobi machine.

They shouldn't have even had the skills to make it to this point. Konohamaru had only two months ago been unable to use any of the academy jutsu to full effect, alongside that he'd been lazy and uncooperative in class, then suddenly one day... everything changed.

The honorable grandson changed. He didn't skip anymore, he wasn't disruptive to the class, and he paid attention. When Iruka called on him to answer a question he would at first try and fail to recall the correct response, and later he began to answer any question he sensei might have had. His best friends fell in the same line.

The first month the progress was measured, but the second month... was incredible by anyone's standards. Everyday those three and their kohai would bring a new skill with them in their repertoire, the academy jutsu, tree walking, water walking, so many skills that a genin should have had, so many skills that a genin had to have.

By all observations they were all ready to graduate, and he saw the want and need to do so in their eyes, yet he couldn't help but want them to slow down, to look further along the path before running blindly. They would be alienated from their colleagues, resented for their skill and prowess. Geniuses never fared well in the ranks... it broke some of them.

What sort of anguish were they condemning these little boys and girls to? Had he done the same to Naruto? The boy was never ready to be a shinobi, hell when he handed him the headband he knew this, but he wanted him happy... and that happiness might mean death.

Had he thought that when he handed it to the boy; was he secretly relieved when Hatake drew the boy's name? Was he as cruel in his love as others in their hatred? Who was that in the mirror?

 **Hiruzen**

Clad in his Hokage robes Hiruzen Sarutobi stared down at the four boys and girls seated in front of him. They were the first children in quite a few years to graduate early, though there was no rule against it the practice was not encouraged, unless the academy teachers felt there was nothing they could teach the child.

That was the case with the batch before him. He felt uneasy looking into Konohamaru's eyes and seeing the kind of grit and determination that only came from someone with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove.

All of their faces were masks of professionalism, they were the embodiment of the shinobi and the will of fire. They were dressed in what seemed to be miniaturized forms of the ANBU standard uniform sans the mask. It was probably something that they picked up from their mentors.

Team seven's ability to teach was great in his esteemed eyes. It was nothing short of a miracle they managed to turn this group of academy students into strong genin.

Hiruzen frowned. Team seven was a mystery to him and all those who sought information. They trained like the devil was on their heels, and they completed missions like they were nothing. During their rookie month they completed four missions a day for the first two weeks and went on their first C-rank during their third. Their Mission Profile was stunning for fresh genin. It read

 _Squad Seven_

 _Leader- Hatake Kakashi-kun_

 _Members: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto_

 _Number of Missions Complete:_

 _A: 1_

 _B: 3_

 _C:4_

 _D: 56_

Kakashi was causing a stir with his teaching of them especially in the eyes of the elders. They were growing too powerful far too fast, thickening the already muddy water, there were four more genin set to graduate and they were all considered prodigies, prodigies that were tutored by _that team_.

The only saving grace of the situation lay in the nature of who the students were. They were members of powerful clans who were loyal to Konoha. Hiruzen play that one a little thick even in his own opinion, but it was better than letting all hell break loose.

The caveat to ensure the boys did not turn out like Itachi or Orochimaru was keeping their kohai close to them. Allowing them to graduate early -when normally they sabotaged the efforts of any would-be prodigies-, and sending them on missions with their sempai.

"Good morning, as I am sure you all know I am the Hokage. You have not entered the ranks of the shinobi. It is a hard and treacherous path, fraught with peril."

He cast his steely gaze upon them. They held the contact, not backing away from his non-verbal attack.

"Normally a genin team would be given a jonin sensei, however you four will be an experiment. You will be attached to a genin team that typically takes higher level missions. If they are given a mission that we feel you are skilled enough to partake in then you will follow their lead. They will be something of a set of sensei for you all."

It was a test really, to test the true skill of team seven, and to test the skill and resolve of the children before them, after all who better to kill someone than their own students. Team seven was volatile, far too powerful, and insular for their own good. It could not be allowed.

The last student of the fourth an undoubtedly S-rank shinobi, with students of at least B-rank who make genin into C-rank. No they could have them doing as they pleased.

He loved Naruto like a grandson, and Konohamaru was his grandson, but the village came first above all else. If he condemned them to a hellish life or if they died to protect the will of fire , if either kept Konoha standing then he would allow it. Shinobi were tools, tools for their village to use as it saw fit.

 **Sakura**

Sakura stared at the nin across from her and her team, Kusa nin. They weren't technically enemy villages and thus not enemy ninja she was sure their missions came into conflict for whatever reason.

She frowned a bit. Kakashi sensei was not with them, this had been labeled a low priority C-rank mission, so they were supposed to be running it along with team thirteen.

Kakashi was very blunt with them explaining in detail the political situation they found themselves in, and with the rumor the sharingan could control the bijuu things were not looking good for them.

Kakashi was a radical in the eyes of the elders and other high ranking shinobi, keeping him away from them for long stretches was a tactic to hell peel away his influence, and the four genin were there to become their anchors in the village. It was easy to see, and they did nothing to go against it. They were not enemies of the village.

Konohamaru who was leading team thirteen approached the other shinobi. "Sorry I'm going to have to ask you to leave the border."

The Kusa nin in charge of the opposition was a tall man, slender with hollow cheeks and pale skin, his eyes were a discolored yellow, and he was wearing a conical straw hat. The man laughed at the child before him.

Sakura inwardly cringed. As much as they strayed away from the titles of sensei, that was exactly the role that they filled for the kids. It was sad for it to be that way, but politics were a fickle subject.

"Look brat, we have word that one of our missing nin is on the other side of the border, so we'd like to cross so that we may pursue."

Naruto let out a low growl from Sakura's right. The four man team was one of three chuunin and a jonin to run a mission like that, that was not a spot that genin could generally fight their way out of.

Naruto made to jump out of the tree, he was held back by a hand from Sasuke. "Observe."

Naruto looked at him for a moment with eyes full of anger, and hen just as quickly he turned back to the sight of his students prepared to fight.

He wasn't disappointed. Konohamaru denied the man the right to enter the Land of Fire when he would not produce his papers and a mission scroll, as was the standard practice.

The Kusa shinobi did not like that one bit, making his ire known by rushing forward in a burst of speed swinging his nodachi in a wide arch aiming to bisect the child. He succeeded, or so he thought as the severed halves of the child disappeared in a puff of white smoke.

 **Wind Release: Sparrow's Gale**

A large gust of spiraling wind shot from Udon's mouth.

 **Fire Release: Grand Fireball**

A huge column of red hot flames sprang to life from Konohamaru who had taken refuge in the treeline. The fire roared in anger as it transformed into a devastating inferno.

 **Water Release: Water Wall Encampment**

The flames were doused by a tidal wave of water, but the genin were not done. The earth began to shake as Moegi activated her **Earth Release: Unstable Landscape.** The enemy nin jumped out of the steam of the flames and away from the rapidly quaking earth beneath them, one less for the wear.

 **Wind Release: Drilling Air Bullet** Moegi and Udon jumped to avoid the destructive impact of a large spiraling sphere of wind, and Konohamaru seized the opening the young female left when deploying her technique.

Going through a series of hand seals that ended in the tiger seal he took a deep breath and launched a series of small plumes of flames toward the woman who was still in mid air from jumping to use her jutsu.

Another gust of wind broke forward catching the mini infernos, however the wind was too weak to divert the shuriken he had hidden within the fire. The woman gave a scream and a gurgle as she was skewered like a pin cushion, falling to the earth never to breath again.

Sakura hoped the young Sarutobi was alright, he had killed before, but she didn't know how he was dealing with it, he and Naruto were a lot alike in regard to killing. Neither of them liked the idea of taking lives, however they understood it was a necessity of the life; a dead enemy couldn't return and harm your comrades.

Another of the Kusa nin yelled out at the sight if his dying comrade, and in his moment of distraction he was shredded by a typhoon of wind, blood splashing in all directions. The last of the enemy held her hands up in surrender. She was knocked out by a chop to the back of the neck by Moegi.

Had that been a fair fight Sakura would have stepped in with Naruto and Sasuke. The jonin and chuunin had hesitated and underestimated her kohai and paid for it. They were geniuses of hard work like that Lee kid.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sasuke**

The one lesson that they all took to heart that was taught to them by Kakashi was chakra theory, and it was something of a power greater than any shinobi knew. When a shinobi normally delves into their natural affinity they only dig enough to use the jutsu, they don't go to the point that most of the jutsu become instinct, the chakra cost negligible, that was the level that squad seven strove for.

They all reach something of a plateau in their training with their primary elements, they could use high ranking jutsu, there was simply not feel to it, Naruto suggested looking into their secondaries; they all agreed.

Sakura's secondary element was water, and Naruto and Sasuke shared the element of fire. They had an easier time training their affinity because of the partner which was something that she got no benefit from, except Moegi had a water affinity as well so she trained with the girl.

Sasuke could almost smile at the thought of those kids who were supposed to be nothing more than tag-alongs. The kids were powerful genin almost chuunin level shinobi, at least three of them were, Konohamaru was definitely chuunin level if only slightly. It was frightening to see that kind of power in such a young body... was that how people thought of Itachi at his age?

Was the boy too powerful; did they need to hold him back as they did Sasuke himself? They were stuck with the kid to keep them in check but the brat was getting strong as well... did he become a liability like them, or worse would they be seen as breeding genius ninja for their own gain rather than the good of Konoha?

Perhaps Naruto's dream of wanting to be Hokage the sole reason that they all lived... it didn't matter at this point. They would continue to grow, and the village would make a choice. The Sandiame was a kind man and Sasuke hoped he would still have the position of Hokage when that time came or they had proven their loyalties to the sufficient degree.

Politics were annoying, none of them wanted to play those games. They were shinobi and they fought for the good of the village; they were tools, and they did not question their orders, and sticking them with children had been a blow, but for the village to take offense to the fact that they had helped mold these children into competent shinobi, preposterous!

The inside of the mission room was always bland to him, and he could still pay more attention to it than the ramblings of the old geezer that was the Hokage.

"Squad Seven reporting for a mission Hokage-sama." Kakashi said, four months ago Naruto would have made some outburst, knowing they would likely receive nothing more than an easy D-rank, now however it was rare for them to be sent on any mission less than a C-rank alone, or B-rank alongside their sensei.

"Yes, well Kakashi-kun, I have two missions for Team Seven. The first is a C-rank for the genin and their backup squad, and A-rank for you."

Kakashi accepted both scrolls and handed the C-rank scroll to Naruto, who we had dubbed team leader. Sasuke didn't want the responsibility, and neither did Sakura. Reading the scroll quickly Naruto went to gather their second squad.

When all seven genin were assembled Naruto showed them to the village gates where they met their client; a bridge builder by the name of Tazuna. He was from the Land of Waves and he wanted a routine body guard detail back home.

"Hello Tazuna-san are you prepared?" Sakura asked the old drunkard. He scowled at her

"You're supposed to be my guards!?" he touched his hand to his head, he seemed slightly hysterical. There was something wrong with this situation, Sasuke could tell and so could his teammates, but they continued on, this might give the kids a bit more experience.

Naruto sighed. He hated this sort of behavior but he had to put up with it for better or worse. "Don't worry Tazuna-san, we are highly trained and capable shinobi we will protect you on your venture."

There was little more after that in terms of excitement after that, and that was to be expected. Kakashi had drilled into them the utmost professionalism, even down to their uniform choice. The trek to Wave Country was boring, as they were making pace with Tazuna, and he moved like a snail.

The younger genin talked among themselves, and some with Tazuna, though those lines of conversation were short and gruff. On their second day of travel as they made the mark of the Wave/Fire border Naruto stiffened. This Naruto was not the real Naruto. The blond brat was taking the art of stealth to a whole new level, with a flurry of clones hidden nearly everywhere for a replacement at a moment's notice.

The rigidness in the shoulder's of the clone did not go unnoticed by the members of squads seven and thirteen, and from a puddle that they passed nary a minute ago burst fourth two missing-nin bearing the crest of Kiri. With a combination of a sturdy chain studded with sharp edges that connected a pair of gauntlets they wore, and a modified **body flicker** to wrap Naruto up, pulling taut and shredding him, or they would have if the blond didn't explode.

They escaped the blast range with their own replacements, and they continued to press the attack. The youngest genin did not move, the opening they left was too great. One of the men rushed to attack Sasuke and Sakura, and the other broke off toward Tazuna.

Instantly they were both taken out of the fight. An ocular genjutsu from Sasuke defeating one, and the other buried up to his neck by Sakura courtesy of her **Earth Release: Double Earth Suicide Decapitation.**

No one had died on either side of the conflict, and Sasuke was grateful. Killing was a sore subject for all members of team seven and even worse for the members of team thirteen; they could do the deed as well as the others, but there was a price to pay with it... the nightmares plagued them all, but they rationalized it, saying they were protecting their friends and family.

It was true actually. Between the members of team seven they were family. Sure Sakura had parents but they were strangers now, they were their own shinobi, and the politics of her situation made it hard for them to approach her.

Even family had no value within the walls of their accursed village. He would never betray it... not so long as Kakashi and Naruto gave it their last measure of loyalty. Sasuke and Sakura could see the rotten stench of corruption that lay buried in the walls of the great tree, in the very heart of Konoha.

Naruto and Kakashi thought they could change it, it was why they put so much effort into training. It seemed to others that Kakashi only left them with the barest of tools to learn with, a scroll here or there did not seem to be much to work with, however that was the genius of the entire ordeal; He forced the basics into them at such a level that they could use that knowledge to learn the more advanced steps to most other exercises he "taught" them.

It was ingenious as it saved his ass, as well as kept their growth up. To sweeten the pot a bit, Kakashi also encouraged his students to pass on their knowledge of the basics onto the younger genin. To most it would seem brutal; the training that those children went through... it seemed inhuman, but that was the life of a shinobi. Conditions were not always favorable, teammates were not always cooperative, victory was not always assured.

Mock exercises did only so much. If a genin knew they would live through every step of training that their sensei provided, then when they entered combat they might freeze up, unused to the killing intent of a true battle of shinobi.

Sasuke scoffed, academy students, fresh genin, and civilians thought duels between shinobi were decided by flashy techniques, and taijutsu... the truth was simpler; shinobi knew when they were dead. When you faced an opponent stronger than you, as a shinobi you would feel it... the moment your eyes met you knew they would kill you, and they knew they would as well, but ninja are a masochistic breed.

Rather than simply killing their opponents, they played with their food, at least the older generation did. It was to teach the youngsters, because even though quite a few of the old guard wanted to be immortal, or some bullshit of the like, they still needed strong opponents, young ninja could grow and become stronger, so those who were strong for their age range were often left alive to become stronger and force the enemy to do the same to stay above them.

It was a brutal cycle, and often the older would overestimate themselves, and they would die. To some it would seem a petty end... this was the life of a shinobi. There is no life without death, no growth without decay, thinning a herd is done by culling the weak and the meek, and the memories of the ancestors must be passed down. This was the love a ninja provided to their opponent whether enemy or ally.

Sasuke watched as Konohamaru took the lead of his team, something that was happening more and more often. His presence was calming, and it was so easy to fall in line behind him... it was a trait he and Naruto shared.

The interrogation of the enemy was short, and yielded quite a few nuggets of information; Gato of Gato Shipping Corporation hired the two nin before them along with Mamochi Zabuza and his apprentice who was a hunter nin impersonator, as well as a kekkei genkai user who had access to **Ice Release** , to kill the old man, because Gato was the kingpin of a huge criminal empire that began here in wave, if that bridge was built it was threaten Gato's stranglehold on the people of Wave.

"This is officially an A-rank mission. We shall not continue." Sakura's voice was firm. Sasuke knew she would react like this, and she admired her for her ability to speak with such authority in crisis like this.

"Sakura-sensei." Konohamaru's face was a mask of conviction, there was no fear, his visage was covered with a thick expression of dogged confidence. The other young genin followed suit. They were a sight in that moment.

"Are you sure you want to continue on? You could die, ya know." The worry was hidden deep in his words. What the blond really meant was... _'Do you want to go down this road? Are you sure you're ready? I can't always protect you...'_

"Let them go Naruto. They are shinobi after all... we can't keep them from their duties." Sasuke spoke evenly, as though he wasn't asking to allow children less than ten fight against a jonin level shinobi who borderline on S-rank.

Sakura opened her mouth intent on letting Sasuke know how she felt. Another voice beat her. "Sasuke-senei is right. You guys are children just like we are, and you've fought jonin and chuunin. We can't live beneath your shadows."

Moegi-chan was Sasuke's favorite for a reason. "Sakura-sensei I understand your reservations against allowing us to proceed with this mission, however one day we will not be given such information such as who our opponents are. We need this experience."

Sakura bit her lip as she looked at her own Udon. She wanted to let the feeling of betrayal to fester but she couldn't let that happen, especially when he was right.

"Fine... go."

 **?**

They'd been on many missions with squad seven, but this was different. The plan was for team seven to infiltrate Wave leaving Sakura with them protecting Tazuna. The duo of Naruto and Sasuke would then assassinate Gato.

The walk through the marshy foggy land of wave was unnerving. The last time they had faced a jonin, it was on their terms, and they had been underestimated, these shinobi had seen a measure of their ability likely when they defeated those chuunin.

It was lucky she had not fought, however her appearance would likely give away some of her abilities, however her sempai taught her the danger of overspecialization, and now there would be no problem resulting from that.

"Konohamaru-sempai what's our plan?" she asked from the rear of their formation, using her clan jutsu to keep a look out. Their tight diamond formation giving Tazuna some form of comfort at least.

"We continue forward, and when the time comes we confront Mamochi." It was crazy to anticipate battle like this. The subtle feeling of a promised death and bloodshed washed over them before she sensed him.

"Get down!" The command a bark, and their hearts were flutters beneath the ocean of killing intent. Her stomach bubbled and her throat ran dry. This man... he was... going... to kill them.

"Well, well. What have we here?" The man a shirtless monster with a butcher's knife of a sword beneath his feet as he stood on the blade. His voice was like the grating of teeth on bone. "A bunch of genin brats with a chuunin squad leader. You had more cash than we thought Tazuna, but it ain't enough!"

Without warning, the monster and it's blade were gone, and she looked up to see him in the center of their formation, the edge of its sword poised to end the rebellion of the simple bridge builder. She could only stare. The world was slow as she watched what were sure to be the final moments of Tazuna's life.

The old drunk had a few more days yet in him, and Konohamaru appeared between the blade and its target, a staff in hand clashing violently with Kubikiribocho. "You won't do a damn thing to my teammates or the old man!"

Using a burst of strength that put Zabuza on the back-foot as he was unprepared for it. Using the momentary opening Konohamaru split a ball of fire at the swordsman, and Udon launched a ball of wind as well, the combination turning into a searing white wave of heat.

A large water dragon met the comet of fire, extinguishing the flames, but failing to deal with the large speeding ball of earth Moegi had conjured to complete their true combination jutsu.

They knew that would not end the fight, but it might buy them a few minutes, they needed to press their advantage. "Hanabi now!"

With as much speed as she could muster she rushed through a series of hand seals. **Water Release: The Sea's Rage**. It was an A-rank jutsu that turned any body of water into a death trap.

Normally no genin would have any luck with such a technique, not without falling to chakra exhaustion, but she was a Hyuuga, and what no one knew was the Juuken used large amounts of chakra, and because she had been trained in it from near birth she had reserves much larger than anyone knew, save for her team, but she told them everything, so it didn't count.

The lake that Zabuza retreated to began to explode with rage, swells formed and crashed, waved rocketed up and down, it was carnage, and it forced Zabuza to jump to land, and immediately into the trap she had set.

Due to her large reserves the shadow clone jutsu was a possibility for her, and though she could not make more than one at a time she could still use it to set traps.

The ground beneath his feet exploded sending him into the air where he was caught by a wind jutsu that bisected him, but he deformed into a puddle of water. This battle was not in his favor and he knew it. They were skilled in ninjutsu, but that was a by product of being a student of a student of Hatake Kakashi. It was the bread and butter of squads seven and thirteen.

Zabuza ran through a series of seal and was suddenly wrapped up in a bubble of water. Moegi was behind him. The humiliation was severe, a legendary Kiri nin captured in such a technique.

Konohamaru, Udon, and Hanabi each took a deep breath prepared to unleash a hail of jutsu to finish off Zabuza. A hunter nin appeared in front of the man.

"I am glad you incapacitated him. I've been on his trail for weeks." they knew the hunter was fake, so none of them stopped molding the chakra for their jutsu. A blast of fire, a gust of wind, and a ball of lightning crashed into a hastily create wall of ice.

Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon each downed a soldier pill their chakra levels were low due to their age, even if they could throw around high level ninjutsu, they tired out easily. Hanabi was the only one out of them that could do so for an extended period with no breaks, so she was often the vanguard.

The smoke cleared revealing the fake hunter and Zabuza standing side by side. There was an air of danger around them, killing intent choking them again, but Hanabi's heart was no longer filled with fear, not she felt the excitement of a life and death battle... it was exhilarating.

A leaf fell to the ground and they all sped into action. Konohamaru and Hanabi attacking Zabuza, while Moegi and Udon clashed with the hunter. A dome of ice formed over Moegi and Udon, it was made of chakra, and it distracted Hanabi for a second. That second cost her... Zabuza dashed in and slashed at her viciously, she got her kunai up in time, but the blade bit into her pinky taking it off.

She bit back a scream, disengaging from the monster of a man. He seemed to revel in the blood, no doubt grinning at her predicament, hovering like a vulture waiting for her to die, or perhaps hastening her trek to the underworld.

In his bloodlust he lost sight of Konohamaru, and a smash to the back from his staff was followed up by a sea of flames descending from the sky. Using a chakra string Hanabi retrieved her finger and with the medical training that she was receiving she learned how to reattach digits, and quickly reattached her own.

The dome of ice shattered, and Konohamaru cut Zabuza's head off. Hanabi stared at the man's lifeless face. He could have killed her, killed Konohamaru, but he played with them, allowed his bloodlust to get to him, he died for no reason. What kind of shinobi was he? What kind where they? Where they the legends that everyone thought they were?

The ice user was captured and tried to kill him or herself, no one knew the gender. Anyway the hunter nin only agreed to stop trying to kill themselves, but now followed Konohamaru like he was a god.

When they arrived at Tazuna's house Naruto-sempai's team was already there with Gato. He was alive. Within the night they set up his execution and the execution of all the bandits in his employ. On the fifth day of their stay at Tazuna's home it happened.

Tazuna asked Naruto-sempai to do it, and though he did not look like he wanted anything to do with an execution he did it anyway.

When he looked at the men who would die by his hands he spoke a bit. "I am sorry that you gotta die, I don't like killing, but you guys... you're dangerous, and in order to make sure shit like this won't happen again I gotta kill ya."

The deaths were quick beheadings. Following the executions they set Zabuza's body on a funeral pyre as per Haku's wishes after she revealed her name and gender (she was not a girl but a hermaphrodite). They stayed one week after that and the bridge was finished. They confiscated ryo to pay for an A-rank mission, two actually counting the capture of Gato.

The return to Konoha was quick, only a day. It seemed too soon to be debriefing the mission, but she was only hoping to get home as quickly as possible. She was tired.

Sandiame-sama looked at them with hard unbelieving eyes, but with the head of Zabuza and Kubikiribocho in hand he knew they were telling the truth. The children before were no longer on the level of their comrades.

"With the authority granted to me by my position I hereby promote Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke to the rank of Tokubetsu Jonin, and Sarutobi Konohamaru to the rank of Chuunin."

The rest of the talk did not reach anyone's ears. They had not expected him to do such a thing. He was making enemies in the council with a move like this, and he knew such. Why was he taking such a risk? What had he planned?


	4. Chapter 4

**Sasuke**

He was a prodigy... that was what everyone else thought. He knew the truth... the truth that say deep within his soul, he was a child, a scared child. At first he focused his efforts on attaining his goal of revenge, now circumstances were different... things had changed.

His new rank, a showing of his skill and the skill of those whom he fought alongside, it was a burden, more than he thought possible. If he could go back in time he would have refused outright. His new duties gave him command of chuunin when the mission called for it, he, Sakura, and Naruto often found themselves in charge of such groups.

None of them respected him or his teammates, and why would they? They were tokubetsu jonin yes, but some of these men and women were years and decades older than them, what right did they have to give them orders, when they had been fighting before any of them were even twinkles in their parents' eyes.

Conflict arose rapidly, and with the addition of combat the heat of the fire roared to life like the corona of the sun. Non of squad seven were of the level of their rank. It was painfully obvious when they spared against their peers; it was degrading, it was frustrating, and more so it was humbling.

When the Sandiame first bestowed the rank upon them they thought they were ready, and they weren't. On his first B-rank combat mission he nearly died, the enemy jonin had been stronger, faster, and more deadly than he... even with the power of a fully mature sharingan he could only stare in horror as the blade descended upon him.

Team thirteen was in the same bind, though their situation was less severe, since only Konohamaru was a chuunin he was able to lead them on D-rank, and the occasional C rank mission, sometimes however he was pulled onto chuunin missions, mostly low B-ranks and the occasional high B-rank.

It was simply a repeat of his senior team's failures. His ninjutsu was powerful, like all of his family -as the boy often called them-, his speed lacked and that was the root of his issue, all of their issues. They were too slow to employ their power, their ninjutsu.

Training turned to hell the week after their first missions. Kakashi got together with his friend and fellow jonin Maito Gai to devise a training schedule to minimize our newfound weakness. It was brutal and worked them to the bone, the results spoke volumes. Their hand seal speed flew through the roof, allowing them to minimize their close quarters combat, though they learned jutsu to counter this flaw. Konohamaru started team thirteen on his schedule.

Haku also became a shinobi of the leaf, in leu of the fact that she was at one point an enemy nin, the Sandiame allowed her to become a shinobi and a chuunin provided squad seven take her on as their fifth official student.

Sasuke frowned as he drifted back into the real world, neither Naruto or Sakura were in the mission room, meaning they had been given different missions. That was going to make getting home a little more difficult, he prayed the personnel he assigned to him were competent, and would work with him, last time... well he just hoped it never came to that.

He strode forward feigning confidence he did not feel. He hated their gazes on him, the hate that rolled and bubbled beneath the facade. These people with whom he shared a bond as comrades hated him... loathed... reviled him, for some mere token that in the grand scheme meant nothing.

When all hell broke loose would those who had the power, yet lacked the knowledge to reach their rank shine bright? Of course they would, they simply seem to forget – or care not remember- that there are more workings to rank than simply power. Knowledge, mental stability, loyalty, and politics all played a role.

Those of his peers that loath him and his while knowing this believed their promotion to be all politics and nothing more, after all he was the last Uchiha, he had to hold Konoha's banner high and proud. If it were as simple as they all thought however then he and the other would have long since been decomposing into the earth, left as nothing more than ashes scattered upon the wind.

It was politics and their skill that got them promoted. Politics got them to tokubetsu jonin but they were as skilled as any chuunin. Still the sole reason they survived so far was their growth, the more danger they exposed themselves to the stronger they became.

Only a month ago Konohamaru was truly low chuunin in skill and nothing more, yet now he was high chuunin, with Moegi matching, and Hanabi and Udon sitting at mid chuunin. As for the senior squad, they were all matching their rank more or less in the eyes of Kakashi. They could survive any high B-rank or low A-rank mission.

Sasuke reached the jonin handling the mission scrolls. The woman was young, probably twenty or a little older, with electric blue hair, big green pupil-less eyes, and a manic grin. She shook her head in his direction sending the braids too and fro.

She adjusted her headband on her arm and coughed. "Heya Sasuke, ya ready for a mission?" her face was split in a chesire grin, white teeth glistening.

Sasuke grit his teeth. He could not stand this woman. "Yes."

She leaned in close to him rubbing her face against the black of his standard ANBU uniform. "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeessssss, what?" she asked in an imitation of a child's voice.

"Yes, Aoi-hime," he didn't hesitate to say it, wanting nothing more than to be rid of the annoying woman.

Jumped back, and smiled. "Well Anko-chan has it, so go to her usual spot, you know the one."

Sasuke sighed and turned around. "Thanks."

 **Anko**

She stared at one of the infamous members of team seven, one Sasuke Uchiha. She worked with him twice so far over the past three months since his induction into the ranks. In the beginning she hated him and the other two, they were not worthy to be call jonin in any form special or not.

She was a part of the Uchiha's first mission, and she saved him when he was almost decapitated. He was too slow, his ninjutsu was powerful he proved soon after his near fatal encounter, the jonin were just faster plain and simple, if they had been chuunin the outcome would have been vastly different.

After that first failure Anko along with several disgruntled tokubetsu jonin petitioned the Sandiame to rescind their rank, the old coot gave them an ultimatum; if squad seven ever failed a mission then they would be dropped.

While it wasn't what they wanted it was good enough for the jonin. They let the issue go. The members of squad seven struggled, yet with each mission they improved. It was frightening how quickly they developed, in fact at that very moment there were few within the ranks that knew of them that did not believe they deserved the full rank of jonin, hell there was even talk of that Konohamaru brat and the mist of their making tokubetsu. There was something wrong with the picture... powerhouses like this did not appear so thickly stacked... it was unnatural.

"You ready Uchiha?"

The boy raised an eyebrow. Anko sighed, she would normally go through her whole routine, she just honestly did not have the energy, plus there was only the brat with her so she could be herself.

"Do you have enough supplies for a one to three day combat mission?" he nodded.

"Good just follow me." She leap from the front of the dango stand and onto the rooftops with Sasuke close behind.

" We're tracking an A-rank duo of missing nin. Capture or kill. Preferably capture as they might have information on other missing nin that might be hiding in the area."

Sasuke nodded, though she noted the deeper frown he wore than his usual shallow one. He must have thought it strange that only she and he be sent after a par of A-rank missing nin. It was strange to her as well. She knew for a fact that Sasuke and his teammates were not rated for A-ranked solo combat by themselves.

She eyed him again, noting the heavy bags under his eyes. He was pushing himself to the maximum for everyone. Every mission he went on was harder for him than the last; she had seen it when he came back limping more and more, or when he blocked or parried a blow and winced. He was working on sheer grit alone, forcing his body to match theirs. It was a sad sight.

Their trip took them to the border of Fire Country and Rice Country, near the valley of the end. She used her snake summons as an innocuous way to gather info on her targets. They were a traveling pair of nuke nin, one from Iwa, and one from Kumo. No one knew what the two were doing together, and no one cared, they just wanted them taken care of.

They weren't taking many precautions which was a surprise, when her snakes gave her the news of several decaying chuunin she understood why. They were strong, and confident. She signaled to Sasuke, and he weaved a set of hand signs, pausing on the ram seal.

There was no shift in the air or rush of energy that accompanied ninjutsu, and it had to have been a genjutsu. There was a scream, and the Kumo nin – a mountain of muscle, with dark skin, red hair, and gray eyes- jumped back from his cooking pot, the Iwa nin – a stick of a man, pale skin, brown dusty hair, and green eyes- tried to ask him what was wrong, and he attacked with a vicious slash from a kunai.

Sasuke and I shot off. The Iwa nin realized it was a genjutsu and quickly stabbed his fellow ronin. The pain broke the jutsu, forcing Anko to break off as the enemy readied themselves quickly, an earth wall shielding them from potential threats.

Sasuke did not care, he leap over her and threw his hand forward. A crisp powerful shock of thunder sounded and an enormous bolt of lightning flashed forward destroying the wall.

Anko jumped to avoid a pair of hands from the earth, while Sasuke face off on the Kumo nin.

 **Sasuke**

The Kumo nin was strong, far too strong for him to even think about engaging in taijutsu, and he was far too fast to be taken advantage of with kenjutsu, so ninjutsu it was. Using the standard Uchiha fire jutsu would be easily countered in this case, lightning release would be ill advised against a Kumo nin. He could his water release which was his third affinity, or he could...

Taking a deep breath and making a few hand signs, Sasuke converted his chakra into a mixture of two of his basic affinities, and mixed them in a certain ration to create a secondary release nature. In this case he was fusing fire release with water release to create boil release.

This was something that Sakura discovered when she was studying Haku's Ice release chakra. With Hanabi's help she was able to see what parts of ice release were wind and water nature respectively, and through much trial and error she learned that on order for someone to use an advanced nature they had to mix the chakra in the proper ratio, and that those who had kekkei genkai simply cold do so from birth. She also found that after the first instance of molding an advanced nature the body would never forget.

It took them all a month to be able to use all of their advanced elements, but they took more chakra than normal ones, and they left even Naruto tired. Sasuke had never used any of his in a real battle, and in truth never planned on it, but it was life or death.

 **"Boil Release: Death's Kiss"** he blew out a huge cloud of boiling mist. It wasn't ordinary mist; it was a boil release mist, and because of his amount of fire nature chakra against a lower water nature chakra within his boil release the mist pH level could not be altered, his mist simply burned.

The Kumo nin had not been expecting the technique, and no one knew he could do it, so he was unsurprised by the gurgles and screams as the man was eaten by the cloud of mist. He smirked, and promptly fainted, having used too much chakra with a single jutsu.

 **Kakashi**

Kakashi stared at Anko as she stare at him. The woman was a good friend and worthy confidant, however more often than not she was also an immature nuisance.

"How can I help you Anko?" His tone was neutral, something he prided himself on when trying to deal with people that were getting on his nerves.

"Have they always been like that?" Kakashi raised his eyebrow.

"Has what always been like what?" He asked confused.

She laughed like he was being obtuse. "Your students duh, scarecrow. Have your students always been so... cold." He laughing stopped halfway through the sentence, morphing a thoughtful frown.

"They're not cold they're lonely." Most might suppose it was none of his business now that they were no longer genin, and to Kakashi they were wrong. They were his students from now until the end of time, nothing could get in between them.

"They're like me huh?" That was surprising, he never thought Anko paid attention to the rumors that floated about her person, though that was far too much to suppose if he were to be honest with himself. A lot of people talk, and many of them do not even try to hide it, it was hard to deal with that. After his father had been difficult enough... now... now it made him sick.

"The jonin don't like them because they think they're too young, and they don't talk to the genin since they can't connect to children their own age anymore." The response was brutal and matter of face, so much so that Kakashi himself was not sure if he was being too hard or not.

Anko smiled. "They don't hate them anymore." Kakashi laughed at the display, though his laughter covered the tears he wanted to let fall, if only it were that easy.

The conversation with Anko, while short, was eye opening. His students and their juniors often talked of pointed glares, and unbidden attempts of slights hazing, nothing that could be called truly untoward, in so much that it was dangerous, while still being distressing.

Perhaps these plays of silent aggression were dying out, being replaced with compelling shows of comradeship. Such things would be admirable- and dare one think NICE-, if they were children of the ordinary order, easily swayed by toys, games, or any other host of knickknacks or mundane activities that seem boring without a group of friends.

His teams -because he'd be damned if he didn't see the unlickies (as they called themselves) as a second set to match the first- were all suffers of the pangs and aches of loneliness, if not by the village at large, then by their peers.

They were too strong, too fast, too capable than the others wanted them to be in their new roles, but in their own eyes they were weaker, slower, less strategically useful; people around them didn't want them to progress to their level, fearing Itachi all over again, and they powered forward to not die.

Making the plight of his brats even graver, was the unsettling fact that their new secondary release natures -which to his shock now showed up on any chakra paper they used in some form or fashion- ate through their reserves, and they trained themselves in using them with almost religious zeal.

This left them with minor chakra exhaustion nearly everyday, so in response their reserves began to grow at an unrepresented pace. They all had jonin or Kage level chakra reserves, and jonin level ninjutsu, however employing their techniques was hard. When they managed their turned the tide, but when they failed they were on the back foot.

At least that somewhat leveled the playing field, and that was better than nothing, he just hoped the situation did not escalate further.

 **Sakura**

She wished she never took the promotion, that her team was a lesser one. They reached full jonin promotion, Konohamaru was placed as the full time sensei of squad thirteen -and promoted to tokubetsu jonin-, and they all hated it.

They were under prepared for their circumstance. She saw it in their bodies, that slump, the paleness of their skin from nights running under the light of the moon, the haunting look in their eyes as they were assailed by the spirits of those that haunted them, and the weariness of outsiders who only cared to judge them for their shortcomings, when they should be above everyone else.

No one understood that they were only good for their age, that they were children, that they may have wanted to act as children. These people pounced on any shred of innocence they held. Finding time to spend with all right of them in one place became a rarity, so each of them fell to a vice they used when they were alone to cope. Kakashi fell to his tried and true Ichi-Ichi Paradise, Sakura surprisingly began to smoke cigarettes -a trait her mom hated, but allowed. She might not have made jonin, she had seen them though, and a little smoke was a small price for a (semi)sane daughter-, Sasuke took up yoga, Naruto tried his hand at cooking, Konohamaru and his team just played like children should when they got around the village, and Haku began writing short novella.

Their training took another step into the range of torture, when Kakashi gave them all resistance seal lined vests to wear. The seals would apply extra G forces to all of their bodies -this made them safe to wear at all times, they didn't need to worry about differing points of pressure and weight difference tearing their joints or ligaments- increasing their speed tremendously.

They speed the results of their weight training up when Sakura invented a jutsu that would slightly relax and heal strained muscles and nothing else, allowing the stronger fibers to grow in a single night rather than over time.

After a little over eight months out of the academy they were already on the level of jonin, along with Haku, while Konohamaru and the rest were reaching between mid chuunin and tokubetsu jonin.

"Naruto," She said to the blond next to her. The plains of Frost Country were cold and drifting, and covered in a layer of frost that made one question how life survived here. The mission she and Naruto were sent on brought them here in search of some documents, these documents would provide information on relations between the Frost Daimyo and the Lighting Daimyo, as well as their respective hidden villages. A sensitive A-rank.

"I know." He grit his teeth and ran faster, the trees and ground becoming nothing more than a blur, the only constant was the green of Sakura's eyes hidden behind her obsidian mask.

Their experimentation with chakra made the entirety of their family sensors- a side effect of their dabbling in the realm of dual natures- and they could feel a massive chakra signature rushing their way. There was something off about the chakra, it felt like Naruto's, and if that were true, then the Kyuubi wasn't the only sealed Bijuu.

They clasp their hands in the ram seal "Kai!" and with a burst of chakra their resistance seals released and their speed picked up enormously, their pursuer did so as well.

Within twenty kilometers of the Frost-Fire border they guest was far too close for comfort, they did not want to exacerbate tension with Kumo. They slowed down allowing the person who was no doubt a jinchuriki -with strong chakra of Kage level- to catch up.

They turned and faced the person, who turned out to be a woman. She was tall with fair skin and long pale blond hair, her black shorts and shirt, and the tape on her legs gave away her rank as a jonin -all caution-. She pointed a thin finger at Naruto.

"You are under arrest for violating the sovereignty of Frost Country, and suspicion of espionage. Surrender."

Sakura and Naruto stared at her like she was stupid, and she held back the need to do something to break the awkward silence, but that would give them a head start.

For a scant few seconds they did nothing, but eye each other, but at some unseen signal they they blurred into motion.

The blonde Kumo kunoichi inhaled deeply **'Mouse Hairball'** , spitting out a large hairball shaped like a mouse, covered in blue black and blue flames that stretched and writhed.

 **'Earth Release: Earth Style-Wall'** a thick wall of rugged earth rose up between the combatants, taking the brunt of the attack, holding fast in the wake of rapid paced explosions.

The heavy dust and smoke hung in the air, and Sakura used this to mount an advantage. **'Earth Release: Mud Dragon Cannon'** a muddy facsimile of a dragon formed and shot out toward the woman's approximate position.

 **'Fire Release: Emperor's Roar'** a thick blue flame coalesced with the dragon mid flight, and the new creature of smoldering heat exploded upon impact with the ground, it was not a direct hit upon her but by the curse she spat the flying heaps of heated earth was.

Not to be outdone the enemy sprinted through the smoke, and lashed out at Sakura with a claw covered hand. The girl bit back the yelp of pain as she failed to block one of the blade like nails from the femme-fatale, and it pierced into her shoulder. The older female tried to leverage the success of her initial attack with a strong high kick towards Sakura's face. The girl was able to substitute with a log to avoid the blow.

A quick application of medical chakra and the wound was gone. The enemy kunoichi was not deceived for long by the switch-a-roo she pulled with the log.

 **'Fire Release Grand Fireball'** the Sasuke special raced toward her at a harrowing pace. It it were not for the harsher training she received from her sensei then she would have died from that, but a well timed **Body Flicker** took her into melee range of her opponent. Molding chakra into her fist and changing its nature, she felt he hand heat up and could see the steam rising off of it.

The pale haired blond tried to escape the ensuing blow, a sudden gripping vice -Naruto Sakura realized- held the woman in place. The blow landed with a sickening crack -which Sakura was sure cracked the woman's jaw- taking her down. Seeing her fall like a sack of potatoes the Konoha duo turned to begin their race to Konoha.

They did not make it more than a few meters from the fallen woman when they heard a roar, and a large black blur bull-rushed Naruto, and a large elbow clotheslined the blond. **'Lariat'**

The figure came to a halt, and Naruto's head flew off his shoulders, as if nothing more than a worn piece of a straw doll. "I'm Killer B the eighth jinchuriki, the woman you attacked is Yugito Nii, I'd say you're made from strong stuff, but on the real... ya done fucked up!"

Sakura could not fight the sweat drop that made its way onto her face. The man was a seven foot tall mountain of dark rippling muscles. His eyes were obscured by his dark shades, his hair was braided in tight cornrows, and the eight red and white swords on his back matched perfectly with the white and red of his uniform.

The Naruto below him detonated in a flash and the original went on the offensive, not wanting to give their opponent time to regain his bearings. **'Lava Release: Red Dawn'**

They would have normally used their secondary releases a last resort, however with the increase in their reserves over the past four months they could throw them with little worry, after all they had a new trump card.

A sea of lava descended upon the land. The smell of burning earth filled the air. Without preamble Sakura melted into the earth to avoid the buzz-saw of destruction that Killer B became as he swiped haphazardously around the battlefield spinning with his swords.

Trusting Naruto to know what to do Sakura began on a quickly hobbled together plan. She extracted herself from the earth.

 **'Boil Release: Skilled Mist'** A thick blanket of corrosive mist settle over the area. There was a scream of pain as the woman identified as Yugito Nii awoke at the burning sensation of the haze of condensation. Suddenly her chakra thickened and Sakura stared slack jawed as were there once stood a woman, there now stood a large two tailed cat... this beast was the Nibi.

The beast reared its head back, and let out a roar, unleashing along with it a giant blue/black ghostly flaming silhouette of its face.

Sakura stared into the face of what was sure to be her impending doom. What was her luck to run into such a shinobi so early on in her life. The doubt began to flood her, yet a split second later she regained herself.

She could not simply give up and allow her existence to be swept aside like it was nothing, she had teammates that needed her, and a family to return to. She slammed her foot into the ground as she sped through a hand signs. **'Earth Release: Earth Style Rampart'**

Unlike the wall that Naruto created this was more like a small mountain of soil that not only blocked the attack from the monster, it also gave her the higher ground.

There was an explosion off in the distance, a part of the by-play between Naruto and Killer B, which she pain no mind. Her teammate was strong enough to defeat his opponent, or hold him off until she defeated hers.

 **'Lava Release: Four Tiled Barrier'** liquid rock flowed from her mouth and formed a cube shaped prison. **'Water Release: Cresting Swell'** a swell of water formed behind her quickly traversing the battlefield and crashing over the Bijuu.

The wave hardened the lava prison, and the cat struggled to break free. Seizing the moment to take a breather Sakura popped a soldier pill and washed it down with a nutrition shake that she and Haku designed. The shake was designed to increase chakra regeneration. When coupled with a soldier pill, instead of simply getting some of your reserves you could get all of your chakra back in a matter of minutes.

Breathing deeply Sakura decided it was time to end things. She never wanted to reveal her next card, as it was highly coveted, It was one of the few abilities that had the capability to neutralize a Bijuu or in this case a jinchuriki.

Combining her water nature chakra and earth nature chakra Sakura produced the coveted Wood Release. **'Wood Release: Advent of Spring'**

Small forest strange up entangling the beast in their roots and limbs. The creature of chakra thrashed and writhed, and every attempt was a failure.

The chakra drain for the technique was enormous, but she had enough for four more at the least. **'Wood Release: Silk World Binding'** the leaves of the trees began to affix themselves to the Bijuu's body, and the creature was soon encased in a cocoon of leaves. Its struggles ceased and Sakura watched in relief as the beast transitioned back into the beauty.

A Naruto -she was unsure of whether or not it was the original- landed next to her. "Let's go the other guy will be occupied for a while."

Sakura nodded and released her jutsu. The leaves left the woman on the ground; alive, but unconscious. Sakura hopped down from her spot on her rampart and went to the blond female. Fishing a sleep tag from her pouch she placed it on the woman's forehead, and then she heaved her onto her shoulders.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I used Wood Release to defeat her, and I don't want to kill her; she's a jinchuriki. Killing her would release the beast."

The journey to return to their home was short and silent.

 **Hiruzen**

Sarutobi Hiruzen was getting too old for this shit. The political shit storm that two members of the now thoroughly infamous team seven had thrown into his lap was enormous. Within just a day of the incident he received a missive from the Raikage, informing him in no uncertain terms that he was on the way to Konoha to retrieve his jinchuriki.

This was both a good and bad spot for the two villages. With this Hiruzen could leverage to gain some concessions for the return of the woman, or it could lead to war, however either way, the aging Hokage was certain he needed to make a show of force. Thanks to the destruction of his face mask Naruto had been identified and labeled as an S-rank enemy of Kumo, as well as earning himself the epithet of Konoha's Fire Fang. Sakura had not been identified, however her description was given to the bingo book researchers, and she was given a bounty, though she lack an epithet.

Having Naruto and Sakura in the room with him as he talked to the Raikage would be a boon, the man was easily set off and often acted rashly, however he could not do that if they were special jonin, no they needed to be full jonin, so he called team seven and team thirteen into his office.

They all stood in front of him at attention, all relaxed but ready to jump to action. It was shocking that only a few months prior his grandsons were both failures, and now they were leaders of the utmost.

"This will be quick." he began sternly. "I am meeting with the Raikage in a just under and hour and a half, so I will start by congratulating Naruto and Sakura on another excellent performance on yet another mission."

The duo smiled at him and the others gave them simple words of encouragement, it was heart warming to see them like that, looking as if they were innocent and happy, when they were killers each holding on to the others in a desperate attempt not to be swept under the swelling tide of their inner demons.

"With that out of the way, I do hereby promote Haku, Sarutobi Konohamaru, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Haruno Sakura, to the rank of jonin, and Uzumaki Naruto is to be listed as the jonin sensei of Sarutobi Konohamaru retroactively. Sarutobi Konohamaru is hereby to be listed as the jonin sensei of squad thirteen retroactively."

None of them looked unhappy with their promotions; none looked happy either. He knew they did not want to be in this situation, knew they never considered themselves ready, but he continued to push them, continued to bend them. They were strong, more importantly however was they were smart, and knew when to give and how to fight back.

They were scrapping the ground as it was, and with two month remaining until the chuunin exams he needed them all up to snuff, and he needed team thirteen's mission profile to look somewhat regular.

"Team thirteen and Haku you are dismissed." the junior team **Body Flickered** away leaving their seniors alone with the Hokage.

"Hatake Kakashi you are hereby appointed to my personal council. I believe a younger and less weary hand is needed among the voices of the elders."

Kakashi bowed his head, and Hiruzen could see the shocked that settled upon his shoulders. It was a move that he had not expected in the slightest, and it was not one that many could or would have anticipated. What reason did Hiruzen have to occupy a new seat within the realms of his personal advisers with a young child.

Kakashi was young the Sarutobi would readily admit, but he had seen and war, he knew the loss of friends and family to conflict, and the shame of being on the receiving end of a xenophobic, patriotic people, that were more than willing to sacrifice themselves to destroy their enemies -that had cost Kakashi his father-. Kakashi was shaped by war and sculpted in peace. That was the reason he gave the man's new compatriots.

"Thank you Hokage-sama." the young man intoned, truly honored to be given such a role.

"You're welcome, and dismissed. Please return here tomorrow morning for our first session. Please do not be late. I have been lenient with you, however you cannot continue on in as such in this new role."

"Hai Hokage-sama." and he was gone.

Hiruzen turned to the rest team seven. They fidgeted like the children they were under his wizened gaze. It was sad for him to do this, but these were once in a generation prodigies, and there were seven children like this! He could not afford to let up the pressure.

"The Raikage will be arriving here in one hour. You three will serve as my personal guard during that time. Please take this time to prepare yourselves."

 **Naruto**

There was simply no way that he could have predicted this turn of events. To think that he would already be a jonin, he wanted to laugh in the faces of his peers... yet he wished he could be one of them. When he was an academy student he was allowed to be goof, to play pranks... to be a child, but being a special jonin was terrible, no one talked to him, and the little solace he found was in the faces of his teammates.

If he were still naive he would love his lot in life, but now he hated it, and there was nothing that he could do about it. His pride would not let him back down, and everyone else -not named Kakashi- looked to him for guidance and leadership.

The meeting with the Raikage had begun, and the man was exactly like the other dark skinned blond he fought, the only difference was the lack of shades and the Raikage robes. His body guards were a young man with blond hair and dark skin, wearing a short jacket with a high collar its collar unzipped, and a sword behind him, and the man that Naruto fought only a week prior.

"Hokage-dono." The Raikage said gruffly, clenching and unclinching his fist in a fit of slight rage. "Why is the man who attacked B and assisted in Yugito-chan's capture in this room with us?"

"He is my body guard Raikage-dono." He replied easily.

"I demand you release Yugito into my custody!" a growl returned.

"And what would you give me in return for such an action?" the verbal battle began.

"We won't march on your lands."

"Then it would be rather stupid of you to be here right now, I have the two people who started this incident in this room with me in the first place, and their teammate is also with them. Four on two, not very good odds."

The Raikage didn't reply, having lost in that department. Naruto suppressed the urge to laugh at the man.

"We know of your attempts to spring life into the bandit populations by running several of your shinobi in disguise along our border with Frost country. Put a stop to this and we shall release her."

The Raikage clenched his fist again, and looked ready to break his desk in half. "Fine!" he all but shouted. "But I want to fight that blond brat. I don't take attempts on my jinchuriki lightly."

The old man was quick to cover. "Raikage-dono I am sure this is not warranted perhaps we-"

"Either sanction me a fight with him or I fight him and the rest of you forest bastards."

The Hokage opened his mouth, but Naruto cut him off. "If you would allow it Hokage-sama I would be delighted to spar with Raikage-sama."

He wanted to do nothing of the sort, but he wanted Konoha to save face, and if getting into a fight with a Kage would do that then so be it. Killer B, guy he fought before was likely related to the Raikage given their resemblance, and that made this very difficult for Naruto.

The sole reason he was alive after his bout with B was that he kept using clones and other distractions, the man never landed a hit on him, but there was major power behind the blows if the memories from his clones served right.

He was going to get his ass kicked and he knew it, but if it helped then so well be it. He looked the Raikage dead in the eye.

The man in question snorted. "An audacious brat, and a child soldier at that. I never considered you one to do such things Sarutobi."

The older Kage hid a glare in a disarming smile. "I take potential as it comes. Jonin Uzumaki is a very talented young man, and he serves the needs of my village well."

"You call starting an international incident serving the needs of your village?" There was war in the man's eyes at the way the other easy dismissed the situation at hand.

"Your shinobi interfered with their mission."

"Your shinobi were within the borders of the land of Frost illegally, she had every right to stop them!" The Raikage snarled slamming his hands on the table.

There was a long pause and pregnant silence. No one breathed, and then the old man began to speak in a slow deadly manner, lined with venom

"Your jinchuriki was near the border of my country. Which would be the bigger incident? Their mission or your negligence!?" He pointed a finger at the Raikage. "You're lucky we haven't had the beast extracted and sealed in another container to expand our power, so I'd like you to show us some respect if only a little."

There was another pause. "You will have a spar with Jonin Uzumaki in two hours. Please do not act like a petulant child." The insult went by without a word, the steel in the voice of the Hokage was far too great.


	5. Chapter 5

**Kurenai**

Sitting in a small bar that the majority of jonin liked to frequent Kurenai stared slack-jawed at one Hatake Kakashi. The chuunin exams were only a month away and it was time for the jonin sensei to nominate their teams.

She was nominating her team along with Asuma. Neither of them believed any members of their squads would pass the exam -save Shikamaru, because the boy was a genius-, it was simply a learning experience for them, so the next time they faced the challenges of the exams they would pass.

Kakashi, whom she knew was an excellent jonin was not entering his team, and that was troubling if she said so herself. The Uchiha boy would have been a dead ringer, with that sharingan of his it was almost a guarantee that he would have won the exam unless their ally Suna decided to use their own show of force.

"Why not, Kakashi?" Asuma asked from her side.

"Yes, this is most UNYOUTHFUL! The lotus must be allowed to bloom!" Gai somehow managed to shout in his inside voice -how that worked eluded her-, copying the sentiment of the room.

` Anko who was there as well looked pointedly confused. She scratched her head and picked up a dango stick. Popping it in her mouth and following it up with sake, she let out a contented sigh.

Kurenai noticed her behavior, it was almost as if she was not surprised by Kakashi not giving his team a chance to advance. "What do you know Anko?"

The purple headed kunoichi burped and started picking her teeth with the discarded skewer. "Come on Nai-chan you can't seriously think they'd let Kakashi's team compete in the chuunin exams?" She asked with her normal cheerful grin. It was oddly Naruto-esque. "We don't wanna embarrass anyone."

Kurenai, Gai, and Asuma stared at her, while Kakashi continued to read his little orange book. Kurenai spoke first. "I'm sure Kakashi's genin aren't that bad." Anko frowned.

"YOU ARE BEING MOST UNYOUGHTFUL, to doubt those in the SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!" Anko's frown grew.

"I guess that's why we haven't really seen you, eh Kakashi. I know you're a great shinobi, but I guess you're not a great teacher." The bearded jonin spoke and Anko resisted the urge to strangle him.

"Why would jonin compete in the chuunin exams?" There was a smirk so deep in her voice that they did not have to look at her to see it.

The three jonin sensei turned to Kakashi, who was still reading his book. He giggled as he turned the page. They turned back to Anko.

"If you wanna see them in action go to training ground fifty at three." She left without a word.

The trio of jonin turned to Kakashi, only to find that he too was gone. They sat back down and took their food and drinks.

"Think Anko is playing a prank on us with Kakashi?" Asuma asked lighting a cigarette glad that this placed didn't care one way or another.

Kurenai sighed. "She has to be, they only graduated the academy eight months ago, there's no way in hell that those kids have made jonin."

Asuma chuckled. "Only way to find out is to go and see whats up."

Gai nodded, and she took that as the decision decided. She doubted the validity of the claims made by her friend, he friend was known to play pranks and games like this, but she hoped it wasn't like that.

They sat drinking and talking until 2:45. When the time came they made their way to the fiftieth training ground. Training ground fifty was the final training ground. It was reserved for jonin, ANBU, and Kage-level shinobi.

It was a massive sprawling desert plane, littered with dunes and husks of starch brown said, decorated with the bones of animals too weak to survive in its insidious heat, and deathly dry. Gorges, caves, caverns and other egresses into the earth were the main danger for the inexperienced, those unused to running top speed, while in the heat of combat were easy prey for the uneven terrain.

They were late by about five minutes, but the event had yet to start. It was a spar, and Kurenai choked a scream, as she saw Uzumaki facing The fucking Raikage. The Uchiha kid was refereeing.

Just as she reached the edge of a line of chairs that were there to give them better comfort. Numbly she sat down. No one said anything because the Hokage was glaring at anyone who tried to. The collective jonin were not happy about this, well most weren't, but some were smirking. It seemed that not all shinobi could differentiate between a scroll and what's contained within.

The Uchiha raised his hand to call their attention. "Welcome fellow jonin. Today I jonin Uchiha Sasuke will be overviewing an exhibition match between Uzumaki Naruto, and Raikage-sama. I would like both fighters to present themselves."

The Raikage and the kid did so. Naruto made the seal of confrontation. Raikage-sama raised an eyebrow, and slowly did the same. Sasuke seeing both combatants ready started the match and jumped away to a safer range.

The Raikage wasted no time, his **Lighting Armor** flared to life, and he sped toward the kid, his arm out in his signature **Lariat** , the blow connected with devastating force, throwing the blond into a nearby cliff face.

Kurenai covered her mouth. She had not even seen the half of that, was this the power of a Kage? Why would they make a child take on that?

Most thought the match over, Kurenai included, however the Naruto that was lying in a crater dispelled in a puff of smoke.

' **Wind Release: Spiraling Bullet'**

 **'Fire Release: Fire Dragon Jutsu'**

Naruto and a clone of him launched the two jutsu from the air behind the Raikage. The Kumo leader pounced away, flying at breakneck speed, turning to counterattack the one he thought was the real Uzumaki.

He reached the Konoha kid before he could react, picking him up and attempting to slam him into the ground; it was simply a clone, however. The construct broke down, and instead of the normal water, earth, or shadow clones, this one was a lava clone.

Raikage-sama jumped back hurriedly, nursing his burns. No one could tell how serious they were, though it did not seem getting burned by lava would leave just minor injuries.

Kurenai turned to Asuma. She could barely see the movements of the Raikage, and no one had seen the real Uzumaki yet. "What's going on? I can't keep up."

Asuma clenched his teeth around his cigarette. "I can't either. The Raikage is the fastest shinobi alive, and this kid is keeping up. Hell, I haven't even seen him. Maybe its a fluke... we gotta see this match out."

Kurenai nodded and turned back. Naruto was once again on the offensive. **'Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld'**

The jutsu transformed the ground that was only a moment before arid and dry into a deep swamp of sticky pitch and tar. Caught off guard the lighting clad shinobi found himself stuck in the dark mixture.

Naruto capitalized on this opening. **'Sand Release: Eternal Funeral March'**

There were quite a few incredulous looks at the jutsu. No one had ever heard of a Sand Release, however, no one took their eyes off the battle.

The wind began to pick up, and in an instant, a sandstorm was tearing the land asunder. A hasty barrier jutsu by a few of them was all that protected the audience from the sudden buffeting of sand.

The Raikage was not lucky in that regard, as grains of sand rubbed at his flesh trying to sheer off his skin.

Naruto was not finished with his assault. **'Sand Release: Imperial Funeral Procession'**

The sand around the Raikage swirled, encasing him in a cocoon, which morphed into a miniature pyramid. Naruto clenched his fist to implode the structure, Sasuke stepped in before he could though.

"Raikage-sama is unable to fight. The Winner of his match is Jonin Uzumaki Naruto."

It took a few minutes to dig the Raikage out, and he was not happy when they did. They thought he was going to go on a rampage.

He didn't. Naruto made the sign of reconciliation, and begrudgingly the large man intertwined his fingers with the Uzumaki's.

"You are a formidable opponent, and it is no wonder you were able to hold back the power of the Hachibi, however, I will not be taking you so lightly brat. You and your team are still S-rank enemies of Kumo, so stay away from my village. I'm not holding these circumstances against your entire village, just yourselves."

Naruto bowed. "Thank you Raikage-sama."

The bulky shinobi pat Naruto on the back and laughed. "Brat you're on the same level as me, you can refer to me as an equal, Naruto-san."

Naruto looked slightly sheepish and scratched his head in embarrassment. "Thank you A-san."

The two walked away talking amicably. Everyone was stunned. Shimura Danzo, a man Kurenai tried to avoid at all costs stood from his seat, and he looked none too pleased.

"What is the meaning of this?" his voice was gnarled and oily, a rot that you didn't want to touch.

Beside him were the other Elders Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu. Slinking behind them was Hatake Kakashi, though no one seemed to pay him any attention.

"Jonin Uzumaki attained the rank upon his encounter with the Hachibi jinchuriki, on the same mission Jonin Haruno was promoted after her defeat and capture of the Nibi jinchuriki." The aging Hokage took a long pull from his pipe. "I'd like to believe those promotions were prudent."

"Why was the council not informed of such a decision?" Utatane was all steel.

"And the Uchiha as well?" Mitokado groused.

"The council was informed. Remember Kakashi-kun is now a member of the council of advisers, so long as he was informed of the decision then there was no need to inform anyone else. He filed the information in the proper folders, so it was up to you all to stay up to date with the information."

Shimura glared at the Sandiame's effortless dodging of all consequence. The man was dangerous, even in age. "Well having such a prodigy as a jonin sensei would be a great help in filling out the ranks with more capable jonin."

The elderly Hokage smiled at his friend turned enemy. "Well they have already trained two jonin, and one of those jonin has his own genin team, so he's hard at work with that already."

Kurenai choked. Kakashi might not have lied to their faces, but the omissions were biting them in their asses with much too much force. The crowd dispersed as the Hokage and his council continued their verbal duels.

Kurenai wanted to follow Asuma home, changing times, however, drew her to Anko. She followed the purple T&I specialist to her favorite dango joint, and soon the duo was seated over several steaming sticks of the stuff and enough tea to fill a bathtub -not really-; Anko ate happily.

Kurenai coughed. "How did you know about Kakashi's kids?"

Anko chomped on another dango and spit the stick out with such force that it pierced the floor. "I worked with em, I tried to get you to come with me when I went to hand out, you just got your man and your team shoved so far up your ass that you never have time."

"I have to train my team, Anko, not all of us are super trainers like Kakashi." Kurenai snapped out.

Anko laughed. "Those kids aren't strong cuz he trains em, they're strong cuz if they weren't they'd be dead."

Kurenai stuck her friend with a hard look. "What do you mean?"

"Well from what I gather, Naruto wanted to get strong and become Hokage, and Sasuke wanted to get strong to kill his brother, but then Kakashi started training them really hard and they got strong, then Naruto started tutoring some kid who started helping his friends with what he learned, so they all graduated the academy early, and they were genin, Kakashi's brats were the ones in charge of them, not a jonin however, shit happened then they got promoted Kakashi's minions to tokubetsu, and one of the brats to chuunin, and then that shit happened so... yea."

Kurenai blinked owlishly, her red eyes wide as she tried to contemplate what she just heard, Such a series of events was either great or terrible luck. The idiots had only been shinobi less than a year, they weren't ready for the responsibilities of their titles, or so she thought, they had after all been jonin for a month now.

"Hey wanna hang out with one of them today?" The chesire grin on Anko's face was far too good-natured for Kurenai's taste, the prospect to talk to one of her queries was just a tad more alluring.

Kurenai nodded, and Anko popped the last dango into her mouth, slammed the money on the counter, and took off at a breakneck pace over the village. Soon she and Kurenai were perched in a tree over a training ground watching a pink haired girl practice her taijutsu.

She was using a stone dummy rather than a wooden one, and Kurenai was not surprised. With how he punches left impact craters in the stone, she was more than convinced a single blow to a dummy of anything less would leave the damned thing pulverized.

"Sakura!" Anko yelled. The pinkette just rolled her eyes and turned to the snake kunoichi.

"Hello, Anko, and friend."

The two older women dropped from their spot on the tree and Anko walked over and hugged Sakura. Then she introduced them.

"It's nice to meet you Kurenai-san." Kurenai wanted to twitch. She had never thought she would see another child making the jonin grade, though with at least five it was getting out of hand.

"You as well Sakura-chan." Her eyes sharpened as she observed the young girl. It was time for an interrogation.

"How long have you been a jonin?" The first question a probe.

Sakura was not put-off by the topic of conversation and followed. "Only a month, I was a genin for three, and a tokubetsu for four. Anko-chan said she wanted me to meet you, you were just so busy she said."

Kurenai chuckled awkwardly, "Well genin teams take a lot of time to manage."

Sakura giggled. "I know. I've only really had one student, I helped train a group of five genin though. Two of them are jonin now," she paused and looked past Kurenai with a far away gleam in her emerald eyes.

"A lot of the time I wish I could have stayed a genin, safe from the truth of our world. All the lives that I have taken and will take stain my being, and I struggle to fall asleep at night, my body and mind crippled by the veracious nightmares that eat at me." another pause and those eyes are pinning Kurenai, she wants to scream, to run, to... hide from those eyes.

"I am strong because I must, if I am weak in this world of ours I die, so I have to be strong. Because I am strong I am condemned; I am a variable they cannot control... a symbol of their ineptitude."

Silence reigned and Kurenai fled. That girl made her feel weak, and the pain that she showed so freely was sickening, she needed to escape, just for now..

 **Asuma**

Learning that one of his supposed friends was keeping such a secret was more than a little irritating. How could a man teach a group of kids so well that they become his equal in a matter of month, for the sage's sake the brats didn't even have to take the Spring Chuunin exam, which he was entering his own team in.

His Father's office was packed with Jonin looking to enter their teams in the exam, the sole missing was Kakashi, and he was unimportant given his circumstances. The old man put his pipe down and took a breath. He looked at the first jonin, and it began. He faded out until he heard the voice of his secret lover. "I Jonin Yuhi Kurenai, do nominate Team Eight consisting of Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzunka Kiba, and Aburame Shino for the Chuunin Exam."

There was a murmur among the crowd, because of the lack of input from team seven and the entering of team eight. Guy nominated his team and Asuma his own. The Sandiame called for team thirteen, and for a moment no one answered, but then there was a crashing sound, and glass breaking, and his little nephew was in the room.

"I Jonin Sarutobi do nominate Team Thirteen consisting of Udon, Hyuuga Hanabi, and Kazamatsuri Moegi to the chuunin exams."

His grandfather settled him with a dejected look that matched those of the jonin around them, as if confirming for them that this was some joke.

"You're late." Jaws dropped as world views shattered like glass. This brat who was no more than seven and looked ridiculous in his jonin vest was one their peers. It was preposterous, it was maddening, and it was true.

Konohamaru picked at his ear. "Sorry Naruto-sensei forgot until ten minutes ago... I don't know why you want me to tell him to take care of the important stuff." he looked adorable as he grumbled and pouted, making it hard to match him to the image one would usually conjure of a jonin.

"He is your jonin sensei. He trained you."

The younger Sarutobi snorted. "Sasuke-sensei trained me just as much."

The old man didn't even deign to respond to that, almost as if it were beneath him and obvious to the world.

Konohamaru sighed after a few moments of silence and threw his hands up. "Fine whatever. I'm just gonna keep being late to stuff forever, my lovable sensei is an idiot, a lovable idiot, but an idiot none the less."

There were a few more bantering comments, then the Hokage resumed his duties. When all jonin finished declaring their intent in regards to their teams and the Chuunin Exam, they quickly dispersed. Asuma took his time, not completely able to take in the information.

They were not at war, so there was no need for a child to be give command; it reminded him all too much of Kakashi, and the horrors that befell him. He supposed the one eyed man would be the sensei to pop out prodigy students like they were a one cent trick. It was irksome and worrisome, he could see the lack of innocence in his nephew's eyes, and the fatigue of combat in his movements.

Asuma walked over to the boy. "I didn't know you'd made jonin!" he grinned widely.

Konohamaru looked up at with a goofy lopsided smile, the old eyes that came with were unnerving, and Asuma wondered again if he should have had a sterner hand in his life.

"Yep!" The enthusiasm made Asuma's heart warm, the telltale shivers of silent sorrow were just a a light overtone, not quite peeking above the surface. He'd been so much older when he made his commission, and he'd like to think that he'd been a bit more prepared. Many said that no one would ever be prepared for the road that lay ahead in the life of the jonin, a notion that he'd like to think wrong; some people had an ability that lay within them... an ability that allowed them to lead.

It was like some sort of mark, and people instantly recognized the mark and they followed, becoming an extension of the will of the barer of the mark. He could see the signs of the mark on his nephew, and he inwardly wept, for the boy had yet to face the true challenges of his young life.

 **Ino**

Ino was like any other young girl, in that she liked to know things, and tended to be a bit of a gossip girl, a habit she fought, She also loved to solve puzzles, a trait Shikamaru found troublesome -how he survived when he found even the act of walking to be too much effort eluded her- as he often voiced.

There was a puzzle on front of her at that very moment, and that puzzle was one Haruno Sakura. The girl that had once been a best friend of sorts for her, reduced to nothing more than a petty rival that she hardly took seriously at all these days. She hated their fighting over a boy that wanted nothing to do with them, and she wanted their friendship repaired.

Sakura seemed to have shared her sentiments, and was finally prepared to bury the hatchet so to speak, and that was fine with her, it was childish of them in the first place to be the sort to sever ties between themselves over something as idiotic as a boy.

"Of course I want to be friends again Sakura," she smiled widely, happy to enjoy the moment.

"So how's your team?" Sakura offered to fill in space, to avoid a silent room.

"Boring!" Ino huffed throwing herself onto her pillow in a dramatic fashion. "All we do is teamwork exercises, watch Asuma-sensei and Shikamaru play shogi. I hope I pass the Chuunin Exam so I can do my own thing."

Sakura's smile became strained at Ino's comment. "Ino I wouldn't be in such a rush to become a chuunin."

"You aren't worried about becoming chuunin?" Sakura shook her head, adopting a soft smile once again, as if calling upon old gentle memories. Ino's clan trained sense dealing with the mind blared at her; telling her something wasn't right, she would have listened to her instincts too, if only it weren't for the warmth, and happiness that settled in upon her friend's visage.

"I'm not. I just wanna enjoy things the way they are." Sakura replied. Her voice was soft, melodious, and far too old for someone like her. What sort of hardship brought such pain?

A calm serene silence gently lay over them, and they enjoyed it. They basked in each others prescence, allowing themselves something that had not shared for years, back when times were simpler.

"Sakura," Ino broke the stillness of the air, "Do you still like Sasuke-kun?"

It was a sudden impulsive question, and the Yamanaka wanted to take it back the moment it left her mouth. Sakura was unconcerned and did not even seem to notice the turmoil on her friend's face.

"I love Sasuke-kun." the answer was simple, direct, and... and a little heartbreaking. The conviction was too much for Ino to handle. "I love Sasuke-kun..." Sakura repeated, "I just don't love him in that way anymore. I shared a bond with him, and I won't forsake that for anything."

Ino let her eyes roam over her pink haired comrade. The changes the girl went through over these past eight months were deep, once long hair that flowed down to her back was now short, trimmed in a boyish pixie, a formally thin frame morphed and filled with corded lithe muscle, and light tanned skin replace the old pale.

The growth did wonders for her. If Ino looked in the mirror what would she see? Was she the same young woman from before, a little girl looking to fill the role of a true woman, or was she becoming the latter?

"Sakura, I heard a rumor, and I had to know. Are you a jonin?" She remembered the inane nonsense her sensei told her while Choji and Shikamaru were off who-knows-where goofing off.

The pinkette for her part had the decency to look abashed. "Y-yea." Ok maybe she seemed more ashamed than simply abashed.

Ino's jaw hit the floor. "Y-you're a jo-jo-JONIN!?" she didn't mean to yell. The shock was just too strong and she couldn't react any other way.

Sakura took it more strongly than Ino thought possible. The girl was trying to fuse herself to Ino's bed. The blond sweat dropped.

She ripped the blanket off the other girl, and pointed a finger at her. "You're a jonin for real?"

Sakura nodded.

"What about Sasuke-kun, and that idiot Naruto?"

"They're jonin too."

Now Ino was furious. The entirety of another rookie team had made jonin! How was that even possible, they hadn't been out of the academy for nine months, and no rookies were eligible for the two chuunin exams held three and six months after their graduation.

"How?" Ino asked, face contorted in a snarl.

Sakura held her hands up in a surrendering fashion. "Look Ino it's not important how we got out rank, I'm just telling you don't hurry to catch up," Sakura's eye held that far away look again, this one coated in a thick film of anguish. "there' a lot of time left for you... enjoy it."

Soft and sweet, like the memories of their childhood, swelling with the boisterous scent of the pinkette's namesake, yet different. Sorrow striped the petals of that cherished aroma, supplanting it with the choking heaviness of dread.

Sakura hide it well, those orbs that were now iced over. Ino saw though, saw through the window and into her prize. She saw the eyes of a jonin; they contradicted all she knew. Never in the depths of Asuma-sensei or his oft seen companion Kurenai-sensei's eyes had she bore witness to such a sight.

As her brain raced through her memories of the two, she realized with horror that she had indeed seen such a hardness, and gut wrenching suffering in them. She'd seen it in her father, Shikamaru's father, so many shinobi that carried those eyes, that bore that agony. How could they live with such feelings crushing their souls?

"Wanna let me do your hair?" The change of subject was tactless, and it made Sakura smile.

 **Naruto**

Naruto looked boredly at the Old Man, silently grumbling at being taken from his relaxation. He had a whole month off, and was taking a day every week from training, and they just had to ruin it by calling him to the Hokage's office.

"Naruto pouting does not befit a jonin."

The blond sputtered. "Oi! I don't pout!"

The old monkey chuckled, and Naruto plotted his revenge. He'd do his next mission report in triplicate with the help of his clones. He couldn't prank his superior, but no one said he couldn't give him a little extra paperwork to help him out.

Suddenly, a man smashed through the window. Naruto knew who he was in an instant, as part of his training was memorizing powerful shinobi throughout Konoha's history. This man was Jiraiya of the Sannin.

Naruto bowed. "Jiraiya-sama it's a pleasure to meet you."

Jiraiya sighed, he was used to such behavior, he wasn't expecting it from Naruto. The boy's file screamed he was against the very idea of showing any form of respect to his superiors. It seemed jonin life did wonders.

"Nice to meet you too, but don't give me any of that sama crap, I'm a shinobi just like you, and by the showing you gave the Raikage, we're nearly equals."

Naruto smiled tentatively, used to someone speaking to him like that. Jonin were a sordid and insular bunch, the same as teams seven and thirteen, and they did not mix. The older nin tended to be easily riled, with a few exceptions -mostly Anko and Genma-, so they were best avoided outside of missions.

"Call me Naruto then!" Naruto noticed the Old Man perk up at his return to exuberance. He opted not to speak on it, the Sandiame was acting weird, and had been since he starting tutoring Konohamaru all those months ago before everything went to shit.

"I'm glad you like the fight, but you guys know he would have killed me in a real fight." He knew that first hand. The moment he met eyes with the Raikage, he was certain he was holding back. Sakura only defeated Yugito due to the innate properties of Wood Release. Had she been fighting a normal shinobi she would have died.

"Of course Naruto-kun, it was merely a test." The elder Hokage broke in. "Dare I say much more lenient than the tests that I myself have given you over the past few months."

"What do you mean?" Naruto's question came nearly before the sentence was complete, a throbbing curiosity that lay slumbering, aroused thunderously.

Their eyes locked for a moment. Naruto always found reading people easy in the past, his training as a shinobi only increased this ability, and it proved useful, as Naruto read the guilt licked plainly within those brown orbs.

"What?" _'what are you hiding?'_

The Sandiame looked away. "Naruto I did not give you or your team the rank of jonin because you deserved it, in fact I knew that none of you were ready for it."

He lit his pipe, taking a long drag. " The council has allowances for what a genin or chuunin may learn, those provisions are increased in the case of either you or Uchiha Sasuke."

Even Jiraiya seemed to be perplexed. Why would the council have special rules in regards to Sasuke?

"The reason they are allowed a tighter hold on you is your status as a jinchuriki, should you die the Bijuu is released, and a significant portion of our power is taken along with it. Because it takes three or more years for any of the Bijuu to reform, such an occurrence might very well result in war."

Naruto almost snarled at his dismissal as a simple weapon by the man that he saw as a grandfather, only Jiraiya's hand on his shoulder kept him grounded.

"As for Sasuke," Hokage-sama picked up again, "The council does not trust his mental state following the massacre of his clan, and it was in the hopes of the council that he would remain a genin for a few years to mellow him out. His or your ascension to jonin was in their view."

"So you made them jonin so they could be trained as Kakashi saw fit." Jiraiya supplied.

The Sandiame nodded. "Yes, especially with the danger of Akatsuki, we cannot afford to have these children go untrained."

"Akatsuki?" Naruto repeated the word that held heaviest against his aging leader's tongue.

"A group of ten S-rank missing nin. Their goal is to hunt down and capture all the jinchuriki and extract their Bijuu, which by the way results in the death of the jinchuriki, and just to complicate matters even further for you one of the members is Uchiha Itachi."

Jiraiya's info-dump almost crashed Naruto's brain. The Raikage would have killed him had he not been constrained by the rules of their engagement, and S-rank missing nin would attack to kill, period.

"What about the other jinchuriki? Have they made their move on them?" Naruto couldn't fathom why he asked that.

"No not yet, however my informant thinks they may be on the move soon." Jiraiya's spy network was well known within the Land of Fire, so if he was sure of something then it was likely to be.

"Hokage-sama, I request to be allowed to contact the remaining jinchuriki after the Chuunin Exams are over?"

Silence answered, broken ever so often by the soft sound of smoke being blown. "Denied."

"Please, Hokage-sama." Naruto begged, bowing his head fully.

"Denied."

Naruto pulled his head up. "Then by your leave?"

The Hokage nodded his consent, and Naruto took the dismissal. He had to plot, and plan, and lets not forget that paperwork to keep the old coot busy.

 **Moegi**

It was the day of the first portion of the Chuunin Exam, and Moegi was excited, and a tad bit nervous. She didn't know what to expect of the day, and Konohamaru was no help, as he never took the exam in the first place.

When she reached the Academy she found that Hanabi and Udon were already there waiting on her. She groaned. Being late-not the first one to arrive- was frowned upon heavily by Sasuke-sensei, she hoped she never had to hear about this incident.

"You guys ready?" she asked.

Her too teammates nodded. There were times when she wished she had more expressive teammates. Udon used to be so talkative when they were still students, now he was quiet, always calculating, looking to make his next move; it was kind of creepy, in her humble opinion.

She lead them in. There were a ton of other genin there, all of whom were older than her and her team, some by decades. She did not laugh at them like she would have months ago, in fact she was happy for them. Her sensei was only a few years older than her, and he was already developing frown lines and heavy bags under his eyes. Naruto and Sakura were the same, young in body, and withering in spirit.

The journey to the first exam station which was a classroom on the third floor was uneventful, sans the genjutsu on the floor below so that the lesser prepared would not have to embarrass themselves.

Konohamaru was standing at the door to the classroom. He was for once wearing his jonin flak jacket. "Three made it good. I can't say much, just good luck."

He gave them each a hug and moved out of the way for their entrance. Behind the door they could sense a lot of chakra signatures. Moegi smiled softly and went inside flanked by Hanabi and Udon. They were going to follow in the footsteps of their sensei.


	6. Chapter 6

**TiE**

" ** _A Song of Brothers, a Tale of Fire_**

 _Oh, What weaves betwixt the tunes,_

 _Of bloodied valleys, and withered doom,_

 _What so raises the heart, yet fills it with terror..._

 _Tears it apart?_

 _Love of any kind,_

 _Precious gold, or sordid rot,_

 _Warmed hearts, or withered lots..._

 _Love is a great thing,_

 _Yielding for protection,_

 _Frothing for hate,_

 _This feeling brought my Brother's fates,_

 _For love him so, so to did I hate_

 _His sorrowful, lonesome, sordid state,_

 _And when the light, was to leave his eyes,_

 _He gave me the sun as my miserable prize..._

 _It burned inside, that spark of love_

 _a flame of hate it drew above_

 **At the End**

I looked down at the man I once thought a brother, no matter all that we went through, and all that we'd destroyed, we'd still managed to set our differences aside and create something... something he now wanted to destroy.

"Madara," I groaned, more exhausted than I'd like to let on. "Are you satisfied?"

The rain was heavy... cold. It was the only thing keeping us up... the throbbing shock of its chill, if it weren't for that Madara would be long dead. I was glad he hung in for that little while longer. I wanted him to explain himself; I wanted him to help me to understand his motive.

He coughed, phlegm thick with blood and mucus. His proud eyes that always burned with that intense fire, were muted and so dull. I'd never seen him in such a state, and I daresay I never would like to see such again.

"You're too soft, too idealistic, and your brother hates the Uchiha with a passion, if you're passing the title of Hokage onto him..."

I grit my teeth at that look on his face; the betrayal that sprang out so vividly. It smothered me and it took everything I had to stay calm. "I thought we were partners."

I felt a tear slide down my face. I was loosing him, and I couldn't even give him peace in those moments.

"The Daimyo refused to take you into consideration, and we need the Daimyo's funding to run the village, the only other shinobi strong enough to take the position was Tobirama."

Those black eyes stared directly into my own. "How much longer do you have?"

My illness was progressing, not rapidly, though it was advancing nonetheless "In five years I will be dead."

He laughed. "Good you won't live to see the village burn! That brother of yours is a monster, he will destroy everything you and I strove to create!"

How he managed to have the energy to rail as he was with a sword through the gut eluded me, the argument was not able to do that same "Just as you have?"

My voice was cool, as though I were talking about the weather with a neighbor.

His glare would have surely left me dead had he the energy to activate his Mangekyo. "You say that when you deny our legacy, how dare you!"

Those hissed words were his last to me as his strength finally gave out. I stared down at his body wishing I could have avoided that, that something could change so that he would be alive. I had no such luck, in fact I'd go so far as to say I had terrible luck.

Mito had been standing next to me the entire time that Madara and I talked, and she very clearly heard every bit of the conversation.

"What is this legacy that you all left?" I groaned knowing that that would likely be the on thing she latched onto.

I grabbed her arm and started running. She yanked away with a sharp tug, settling into a decent pace beside me. I led her to a small house just inside the new civillian district. Taking out a key I opened the door and led her inside.

Mito sniffed at the small house, I shook my head in exasperation; she was so used to finery that she simply would do with nothing less. The house was far too modest with only two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a small kitchen, and living/dining area.

In the dining area was the elderly woman that took care of the house and its occupant when Madara, Orohime and I weren't there, which was a lot of the time.

I led Mito to the second bedroom on the right, and opened the door. Inside the room was a young blond girl with dark streaks, and eyes of solid black. The girl was Kusagi.

"So Father is dead, does mother know Papa?" She was far too perceptive for a five year old.

Mito cut me a sharp look. "Who is this girl!?"

I sighed, the woman was always so distrustful, a foil to his own seemingly infinite trust. The distrust now would be understandable. "She is Kusagi, she is the legacy of Madara, Kaguya Orohime, and I."

Mito was -as expected- taken aback by that proclamation. I was always one for the blunt attack. "We the three of you lovers?" bitterness did not suite her beauty.

I shook my head. "No, nothing like that," I stalled for a moment trying to find the right words. "Madara and I... we shared a bond, and Orohime found the jutsu many years ago during her escape from Kiri. It needs a woman to bare the child. It's created by melding the unique chakra of another shinobi to the kunoichi's egg. Up to four unique chakra can fuse to the egg. The more fathers the shorter the pregnancy, minus one trimester for each father, though this increases the danger to the mother greatly."

"You know this will not go over well with your brother." crisp, and a little cold. It rattled me a bit.

"You will not tell him!" I grabbed her by the shoulders, "You will not! I love my brother, and I know him. He will wage war over this."

She adopted a thinking pose with her fan resting on her chin. "Teach me the jutsu and I will not let anyone know of this... transgression."

I sighed. It seemed no matter what she always got what she wanted.

 **An is only a Beginning**

Hanzo the Salamander was a man easily able to rival the third Hokage or any of the other men that held the title of shadow. The Sandiame's own three students whom were said to be legends in the making lay defeated at the feet of the creature of myth that was Hanzo.

The ruler of Ame laughed at the trio. Out of nearly two hundred shinobi only these three managed to survive, It was hilarious, when he met their eyes there was that emptiness, that showed their acceptance of death; they would not go quietly, but they would go.

"Get up you miserable dogs!" Hanzo barked.

The pale skinned tried to force his body upward. Life, that was good."Why haven't you killed us?"

Hanzo grinned beneath his re-breather. "You young brats are a tenacious bunch, and that's why you get to live."

To him it was obvious, to the young Orochimaru it couldn't have been less so. "There was a battalion of us, and you slaughtered them all but for us, and you could kill us right now if you wanted."

Observations, trying to regain his balance, to understand this moment. His life just for the time was not his own, playing games was not something he could afford.

"Yes, those others were weak, and we continue to be so, you all are different. You will become stronger, and make a difference in this wretched world."

"Are we not your enemy?" Orochimaru made it to his feet and look Hanzo in the eyes.

"Of course you are, and that is a very important thing. If I were so powerful that I defeated all my enemies then how would I grow? Only by defeating and surpassing those stronger than you do you gain true strength."

 **Hero's Downfall**

 _Beware too much pride, for a moment of blindness could mean the end of a lifetime._


End file.
